Star Wars (Starring the Doctor): Adventures of the Doctor
by blade0627
Summary: The Doctor has been convinced by Jennara Oswin to write a few tales from his past in order to instruct a new generation of Jedi. He's decided to talk about one adventure from each previous Doctor, in hopes that at least one, if not all, of the New Jedi Order will take something out of his terribly crazy, very long life. These are the Adventures of the Doctor. I do not own DW or SW.
1. Jennara's Making Me Do It

Prologue: Jennara's Making Me Do It

Hello there. You all know me by now. I'm the Doctor. I've been told that my nine hundred and thirty-eight years of life have been interesting. I tend to agree, but I never thought I would actually write some of my adventures down on paper. Never really saw the need to. But Jennara thought that it would be nice for me to tell you about my previous lives and some of the adventures that I've had. So that's what I'm doing, essentially.

So, we'll start at my first life and go forward from there up until my tenth life. One adventure from each. Should be fun, I think. Reviewing my lives and telling you all about my adventures. Even if Jennara is basically making me do it. So, members of the New Jedi Order, shall we begin with number one? In that case, geronimo.

This is the story of me. In fact, it's several stories of several mes, during several periods of my life, during which I did many things. These are some of my personal favorite things.


	2. That Time When I Got a Promotion

Chapter One: That Time When I Got a Promotion

My first incarnation did a lot of things in his one hundred and sixty years of existence. Most of them were pretty good, I'd say. But some weren't very good, like his insistence upon grumbliness. I do despise grumbliness. Doesn't quite fit with me anymore. But that's not really important right now. What is important is that my first life was about to be promoted to the Jedi Council.

Of course, I didn't know it at the time. My first life remained, for the most part, blissfully unaware of the Council's doings, including when they were going to promote me. All he really did with regards to the Council was follow their instructions and grumble. I've got to say, I did a lot of grumbling in my first life. I think I may have warmed up near the end, but I don't really remember. I'm nine hundred and thirty-eight. You can't really expect me to remember everything about my life, can you? But I do remember this moment, so let's continue with it, shall we?

I was going about my morning routine throughout the Jedi Temple. A couple of young Padawans waved to me from behind their Masters, who were going about their routines just as I was.

"Good morning, Doctor!" they called gleefully, their eyes glittering with wonder.

"Good morning, Doctor," said the Masters, less gleefully, but with no less reverence for the wise old man walking past them.

Of course, I wasn't actually old by Gallifreyan standards at the time. I was maybe a hundred and ten or so on that particular morning, still a child in the eyes of Gallifrey, even though I looked like I was about sixty years old. I'm about middle-aged now, if you're wondering, and no, I don't look it, thank you very much.

Anyway, I probably nodded curtly to both the Padawans and their Masters, offering a sort of grumble in greeting, then continued along my path, gripping the lapels of my cloak as I walked regally through the Temple. I strode proudly into the main hall and gazed upon my surroundings. I had reason to be proud of myself, I suppose. I had become the first Gallifreyan to become a Jedi in millenia. The last Gallifreyan Jedi was named Rassilon, who lived about twenty thousand years before I was born. Suffice it to say that Gallifreyans did not often become Jedi, which was why I was so rare, even among those of the Order.

I sat down on a small bench in the main hall of the Temple, using what time I had until the next part of my routine to center myself in the Force. I was about halfway through my morning musings when a Padawan approached me, almost apprehensively so.

"Doctor?" he asked carefully, apparently knowing better than to interrupt me when I was meditating.

"Hm?" I said grumblingly. "Yes, what is it? What do you want?"

"The High Council is requesting your presence immediately," said the Padawan.

Now, I probably would have said something along the lines of "Yowza!" But I was my grumbly first life at the time. I probably said something along the lines of "Mm, yes, grumble, grumble," instead.

If you can't tell, I grumbled a lot in my first life.

"Thank you, my boy," I said. "What is your name?"

"Chesterton, sir," said the Padawan.

"Mm, yes, thank you, Chesterton," I said as I gripped the lapels of my cloak and walked regally toward the elevator that would take me to the Council chamber. I had been on that elevator many times, and I would ride it many more times after that, not as any old Jedi Master, but as a member of its governing body.

I rode the elevator alone, as I usually did back then when I was called to the Council Chamber. I distinctly remember smiling to myself as I felt myself effortlessly lifted up the High Council Tower by the elevator as though I were weightless. I always enjoyed that sensation of flying into the stars, even as a younger, rough-around-the-edges man. The feeling slowly began to stop, however, as I reached the top of the High Council Tower and the elevator crept to a soundless halt.

The elevator doors slid open, and I carefully stepped forward into the hallway leading to the Council Chamber. I stopped in front of the doors to the Chamber itself, rubbing my thumbs along the lapels of my coat almost nervously. I honestly had no idea what they wanted me for, and it made me a bit nervous, to be honest. This was one of the few times that I was truly nervous about anything, and the only nervousness I felt throughout my lives was in the early ones. The first, the second, maybe the third felt it in its true form, but by my fourth life, any nervousness I felt never really compared with that which I felt in that moment when I stood before the doors to the Council Chamber, waiting for them to open with bated breath, to be a bit dramatic.

The doors opened by themselves, and the eleven members of the Jedi Council looked at me, as though expecting my arrival. I walked in the Chamber, carrying with me the regality I utilized in the main halls of the Jedi Temple. Jenet Grand Master Fae Coven stared at me, her mouse-like eyes piercing into me. I held my composure. I was a Gallifreyan. Naturally, my first life was not about to embarrass the Gallifreyans by doing anything stupid.

I stood there, looking back at Grand Master Coven, probably adopting a face that indicated a slight amount of grumbliness.

"Good morning, Doctor," said Grand Master Coven. "I trust you are doing well?"

"I should think so," I said in my most regal voice. "I've just been told by a young man named Chesterton that you wished to see me."

"Yes, we do," said Master Nutamu Yvei, a Human who served as Grand Master Coven's right-hand woman. "As you know, Master Nakala has recently passed away."

"And this Council must be complete," continued Grand Master Coven. "We must have twelve."

"Naturally," I said, quickly catching on to what they were saying. I didn't want to presume anything, but I had already figured it out.

"I sense that you have used that famed Gallifreyan intellect to figure out what we have in mind for you, Doctor," said Grand Master Coven, a rare smile illuminating her face.

"We would like for you to serve with us on the Council," said Master Yvei.

It speaks to the difference between incarnations of a Gallifreyan when my first life stayed completely stoic. I would have been smiling like a giddy little cherub, possibly laughing as well.

Even still, my first life knew what an honor I was receiving. Beneath my stoic composure, I probably was just as giddy on the inside as I would have been on the outside if I had been my current life. I just tugged the lapels of my cloak importantly and took the empty seat where Master Nakala had once sat. The other Councilors smiled at me, clearly proud of me for my accomplishment. I would have smiled at me, too, if I could have.

From that moment on, the Council had one constant member. For about eight hundred years, the Council, no matter who was on that august body, there I was, sitting there and listening to the wisdom of my friends. I suppose I'm supposed to teach some sort of lesson at the end of these stories. If there's a lesson to be taken from the grumbliness and the promotions and all that good stuff, I guess it could be that change is okay in any and all forms. It's good because you've got to keep moving through your lives, so long as you remember all the people you used to be. Because at the core of the Council for the rest of the Old Jedi Order was me, the Doctor. And I've changed a lot, too. Ten times, in fact. But at my core, I'm still the same person now, in my eleventh life, as I was back when I first took that seat on the Jedi High Council in my first life.

"And now, let us begin," said Grand Master Coven as the Council became twelve once more.

Let us begin indeed.

* * *

 **I love how this chapter and the prologue are freakishly short, yet the next chapter is ridiculously long. It doesn't make a lick of sense. Ah, whatever...**

 **Hello, my friends! Welcome to the final installment of Star Wars (Starring the Doctor)! In this story, we will take a look at each of the Doctor's past lives, with one story/adventure/lesson from the Doctor himself for each of his lives. Here, we have our First Doctor story. Not much happens, but it's still kind of important, because it establishes the Doctor's lifetime role on the Jedi Council.**

 **So, what did you think of this opening? Leave your thoughts in a review!**

 **Since nobody seems to be responding to me about the Halo fic that I'm keeping in my head, I probably won't mention it much anymore. This will be the last time I talk about it here. If I do eventually write it, and nobody says otherwise, I'll probably end up posting it. We'll see how it goes. Anyway, so, yeah, that's a thing that's going to happen, probably, assuming that writing my other books that I'd like to get published doesn't take up too much of my time. Also, college. Yeah, that's a thing that's happening soon.**

 **So, about that. I don't know what the posting schedule will be like. I'll try to get them in on the usual Friday. I only have one morning class on Friday this coming semester, so that shouldn't be too terribly hard to work with. I don't think posting this will run over into the next semester. It shouldn't. I don't know. But if the homework pile I have is monstrously huge for some reason, then I don't know how that will affect the posting schedule. We'll just play it by ear.**

 **Oh, and I have a Shadow of the Colossus novelization running through my head, too. That's a thing now. It's one of my favorite games ever, and I figured I would try my hand at a novelization. Might post that here, too. I don't know. Ugh. The life of a writer is stressful. I'm constantly inspired to write stuff.**

 **Anyway, that's my rant, which is almost as long as this chapter. Nice one there, blade...I'll see you guys next Friday, hopefully! I won't rant as much! I promise!**

 **Next Friday: The Second Doctor takes his first trip to Gallifrey.**

 **And that's about it for this author's note. Until the next chapter, my friends!**


	3. Our Childhood, Our Home

Chapter Two: Our Childhood, Our Home

My second life was much more like me now than my first life ever was. He was often referred to as the "Hobo Jedi," owing to his slightly more ragged cloak and robes. In that time, I was often found playing a small musical instrument and generally being silly. The Padawans loved it immensely. I'm fairly certain that you would have liked him Majei. The Masters often said they took my silliness in stride, probably due to the fact that my second life's silliness almost always carried some sort of intent, a plan to teach, as it were.

That being said, the Second Doctor, while acting like a bumbling fool, was still no less of a Doctor than any of the others. In fact, it was he who first visited my home planet of Gallifrey.

Actually, that's probably not true. My first life was obviously the first of my lives to set foot on Gallifrey. As I remember absolutely nothing from my infant years besides the Jedi Temple, I consider my second life to be the first Doctor to touch down on Gallifrey.

The Jedi Council was in session when we got the call from the Supreme Chancellor at the time, who was an Alderaanian named Ken Drick. He was a sympathetic leader, but he was not afraid to dish out tough love to planets who were out of line.

Anyway, the Council Chamber's transmissions beacon started beeping, and the hundred-year-old Grand Master Yvei, who had been voted to the position by her peers after the death of Grand Master Coven twenty years previously, answered it immediately.

"Good morning, Supreme Chancellor," she greeted Chancellor Drick warmly. "What can we do for you?"

"Good morning, Master Jedi," said Chancellor Drick. "I have a message that I have been directed to give to the Doctor. Is he present?"

I was a bit surprised when I heard that. Not too many people at the time asked specifically for me when they contacted the Council, especially Chancellor Drick. He normally spoke to the Council as a whole. This was definitely a first.

I was a bit surprised by this, to say the least. At this time, I was about one hundred and seventy years old, and, as of yet, not the Grand Master of the Order, which was probably a good thing, to be honest. I didn't really need to be in that position, as Grand Masters Yvei and Coven had done a fine job of it themselves, and I didn't really want the position, either. I didn't feel that I was ready for that kind of responsibility. Not yet, at least.

As I was not a particularly leading member of the Council, though still prominent, thank you very much, I was not often called upon directly in meetings. It was certainly an odd thing for Chancellor Drick to do. He usually spoke only with the Council as a whole, never individually speaking to any of us for very long, with the occasional exception of Grand Master Yvei.

"Right here, Supreme Chancellor," I said, raising my hand quickly, then lowering it just as quickly.

"Excellent!" said Chancellor Drick, his hologram turning to face me. "This message comes from your home planet of Gallifrey."

Chancellor Drick keyed a sequence on an unseen terminal, and his hologram was replaced by one of a man I had never seen before. He was a bald-headed man who seemed to do his absolute best to keep a stoic expression on his face at all times. He wore very regal Gallifreyan robes, the kind most officials of the Drolemit faction of Gallifrey wore. What color the robes were was obscured by the blueness of the hologram, though I later found out that the robes were red and orange in color. As I and the rest of the Council took in his appearance, the regal man began to speak.

"My name is the General," he said, keeping his composure calm and collected, though I could sense that there was something-there were a lot of things, actually-clouding his mind, making him fear an intense fear. What could be so bad that this seemingly calm and cool man felt such fear as this? I wasn't sure at the time, though I eventually did find out.

"I am the leader of the War Council of Drolemit Gallifrey," continued the General. "The war which has consumed Gallifrey for millennia has come to a head here and now. Skaroan Gallifreyans have launched a massive assault upon the Drolemit city of Arcadia, and it has fallen under their might. We must take it back. Our President and Council of Lords have seen it fit to use more...alternative methods to retake Arcadia." A wave of intense fear flickered on the General's face for a brief fraction of a second, but every single Jedi in the Council Chamber caught it. "I convinced them that it was not necessary; that we needed the help of the Galactic Republic in order to take back our city. I realize that we have not kept close contact with the Republic in these troubled times, but that was only so that the Time War will not reach your borders. I'm afraid that the Time War has indeed done just that, and we now beg you for assistance. We Drolemits ask only for one man: the Doctor, a Gallifreyan who is known to have joined the ranks of your Jedi Order. We are confident that the Doctor can help us in our time of great need. I thank you kindly."

The hologram of the General disappeared, replaced by the hologram of Chancellor Drick.

"It seems you are needed on Gallifrey, Doctor," said the Chancellor.

"It would seem so, yes," I said, thoroughly preoccupied with what had just happened. My first visit to Gallifrey would seem to be one of conflict. I was not much of a conflict man at the time, but I was still willing to fight and kill if necessary. And it seemed as though I didn't really have much of a choice. I know for a fact that I come from the Drolemit bloodline. I knew it then, too, which meant for me that I felt the need to help my fellow kin in their struggle in any way that I could. Which meant fighting in their battles.

"Doctor," called Grand Master Yvei, drawing my attention from Gallifrey and back to Coruscant. "What do you wish to do?"

I thought for a long moment, then reached my decision with a nod of my head.

"It seems that I must go and help them," I said.

"Then that is what you will do," said Grand Master Yvei with a warm smile.

I smiled back at her, grateful for this opportunity, which would end up teaching me more than I thought it would. In turn, it will teach you as well, New Jedi Order.

* * *

About a day went by before I was ready to leave for Gallifrey. I spent much of that time meditating in my quarters, playing my little musical instrument while doing so, and preparing my ship for the trip to Gallifrey. The planet was outside the reign of the Galactic Republic, so its spatial coordinates weren't listed in any Republic database. It's a good thing that the Jedi kept records of the infants they identified and conscripted into the Order. Otherwise, I would never have found Gallifrey.

On the morning that I was to leave, I quickly visited the Jedi Archives and pulled up the file concerning my own conscription. I skipped through most of the boring parts and got right down to the part where Gallifrey's location was stated. After I memorized the coordinates and closed down the terminal I was using, I briskly jogged to the docking area, where my ship and Grand Master Yvei were both waiting for me.

Grand Master Yvei greeted me warmly as I made my way to the small ship.

"May the Force be with you on your journey, Doctor," she said with a smile.

"I hope that it will be, Grand Master," I said. "I shall return once my people retake Arcadia."

"We await your return eagerly," said Grand Master Yvei, and I boarded the ship, setting off for Gallifrey.

I exited Coruscant's atmosphere, quickly making the calculations for the jump to hyperspace that would take me back to my home planet.

During my time spent in hyperspace, I put the ship on auto-pilot and sat down on the floor of the cockpit, playing my recorder and thinking. How would I be able to help the Drolemits retake Arcadia. In my second incarnation's usual fashion, I began constructing a plan, but I soon realized that it would be worthless without any actual knowledge of Gallifreyan cities. So, I scrapped any and all plans that may or may not have been floating around in my head, resigning myself to clearing my mind, mentally preparing myself for Gallifrey.

Looking back on it, remembering Gallifrey, its beauty, its wonder, I realize that nothing could have possibly prepared me for it. By that logic, you can imagine that I was simply astonished by the sight of the planet when I brought the ship out of hyperspace.

And astonished I was. I'll write down a lot of things, among them describing different places I've been, but I don't think I can put into words the majesty of Gallifrey. The planet was absolutely breathtaking. I can remember distinctly the rusty color of the outside of the planet, the grey clouds covering the brown lakes in an aura of warmth and comfort. I can also remember that my second incarnation had a hard time believing that there was a massive war going on down on the planet's surface.

I piloted the ship into Gallifrey's atmosphere, where I was guided by Drolemit security ships into what looked to be the Drolemit Capitol of Gallifrey. It was a magnificent city. Spires towered over the landscape, sheltering the Drolemits from the war, as well as giving them a superb view of the snow-capped mountains that surrounded the Capitol almost entirely.

I landed my ship, and the security ships landed right next to me, flanking me guardedly as I walked down the boarding ramp, an expression of awe and wonder no doubt playing out on my face as I took in the majesty of the Capitol.

I didn't have much time to soak it all in, as I was called back from my awed musings by the General, who greeted me with a flank of two Honor Guardsmen clad in brilliant red robes.

"You must be the Doctor," he said.

"I am, good sir," I said.

"I expected you would be taller," joked the General lightheartedly.

"I'm told that regeneration is something of a lottery," I joked back.

That's certainly the truth, isn't it? Stop laughing, Jennara! I know you are.

"Indeed," said the General with a small, almost strained smile. "We'd better get to work, then."

"I agree, General," I said with a nod, then the four of us-me, the General, and the two Honor Guardsmen-journeyed through the Capitol.

Along the way, the General and I made idle chatter while the Honor Guardsmen stayed silent, ever alert for threats to me and the General. Gradually, of course, it came back to the war.

"I have tried calling upon the assistance of the Jedi before," said the General.

"Is that so?" I asked.

"Yes, but the Council of Lords wouldn't have it, and neither would our President, not for a long time."

"You said in your message that he wanted to use more alternative methods."

I treaded carefully on this topic, and I soon wished that I had been more careful. The flicker of fear, the same one the General had gotten when he mentioned the alternative methods in the first place, was back. I can still remember it. It was only there for a fraction of a second, but it's still ingrained in my memory to this day. Let's move on, shall we?

"Yes," said the General. "They wanted to access the Omega Arsenal, a vault of forbidden weapons that we Drolemits dare not use in this War, no matter the cost."

"Forbidden how?" I asked, my youthful curiosity taking over.

"They are too powerful," the General said simply. "One in particular would not only destroy the planet in an instant, but it would also hold you in judgement of your actions. The artificial intelligence of that machine is so advanced that it developed a conscience. Anyone who used it would face the judgement of the weapon itself."

"Amazing," I said breathlessly. "Of course, no one should ever have to touch that weapon, obviously, but still, it is truly fascinating. Hopefully, the War can end before that weapon is all you have left."

"I hope so, too, Doctor," said the General. "The Council of Lords and the President thought that we could only end this War using the Omega Arsenal. I put my foot down at that, of course. I would not see my leaders corrupted by the seeming necessity of using those weapons of mass destruction."

"So, you asked me for help instead?" I asked.

"I believe that having the Force as our ally would tip the tide of the War in our favor," explained the General.

"Naturally," I said. "I can tell you that I will do what I can to help your cause."

"Thank you, Doctor," said the General gratefully. "Here we are."

We had reached a towering building, and I looked up to see a gleaming silver spire, looking out over what seemed like the entire Gallifreyan landscape. It was a magnificent building that seemed to go on vertically for miles, at least several dozen feet over the rest of the buildings in the Capitol.

"Might I ask where we are, exactly?" I asked.

"The War Tower, Doctor," said the General. "Where the Drolemits are planning their counterattack on Arcadia right now."

I nodded, and the General, the Honor Guardsmen, and I briskly walked through the main doors of the War Tower.

The inside of the building was just as magnificent as the outside. I could go on and on about the fountain in the center of the main lobby alone, with its white marble crafting and its beautiful orange streams flowing forth from various points in the structure. Let's just say it was beautiful and move on so I don't get distracted and forget what I was talking about.

Anyway, while walking through the main lobby on our way to wherever it was that we were going, I saw a prisoner being taken out of the building by a squad of six Honor Guardsmen surrounding the prisoner and one Honor Guard Captain at the front, leading the way. I stared at the prisoner, and he stared back at me, a malevolent glint in his eye, his teeth bared in a snarl. There's another facial expression I won't ever forget. That manic fury in his eyes and mouth told me that this was one man who was not to be trifled with.

"Who was that?" I asked the General curiously, still a bit shaken by the prisoner's appearance.

"His given name is Koschei," said the General. "But he prefers to be called the Master."

The Master. I gave the name a thought. Clearly, he was obsessed with power, trying perhaps to conquer the galaxy, maybe even the universe, at all costs. I don't know. I suppose I'll never know the true extent of the Master's plans. He would eventually die at the end of the Time War, on the last day of the fighting, when it all ended. I did encounter him a few times before that, though, when he tried to run away from the Time War. I'll get to that later, though, because we really need to get to the retaking of Arcadia.

After the unfortunate meeting of the Gallifreyan who would eventually become my occasional nemesis, the General and I, accompanied by the Honor Guardsmen, entered an elevator that shot us straight up the tower, right to the top. I gazed out and saw Gallifrey in all its splendor. It was amazing, looking out onto those massive mountains, the doorway to Gallifrey beyond. I'm sure even my first incarnation would have been impressed. My second incarnation certainly was.

The elevator door opened, and we briskly walked over to another room at the top of the tower. It was a large, dark room, with a holotable with schematics of a city that I assumed was probably Arcadia. This was the War Room, wherein a group of three Gallifreyans were discussing tactics for retaking the city. Well, it was more like arguing, really. For some reason, they just couldn't agree on how exactly to retake Arcadia from the Skaroans.

"We need to strike hard and fast, with everything we've got!" said one, a broad-shouldered, battle-hardened soldier with a missing eye and a scar across his left cheekbone.

"I really think we should be careful in our approach," suggested another whose outer coat was emblazoned on the shoulder with a Gallifreyan symbol that I would eventually come to understand as "medic."

"The Skaroans are merciless! While we wait here, arguing among ourselves, they are probably preparing another attack!" cried a third, who looked very young, but her eyes were very old with what she had seen. She reminded me of me a little back then, and she still does, even almost a century after the demise of Gallifrey.

"Please," the General called the three of them to order. They all looked at the General, then at me.

"This must be the Doctor," said the man with the missing eye.

"This is," said the General. "Doctor, I'd like you to meet the Commander-" he indicated the man with the missing eye. "-the Bishop-" he indicated the man with the medic symbol on his shoulder. "-and the Praetorian." The General indicated the young woman with the old eyes.

"How do you do?" I asked, doing my best to bumble a little in their presence so as to hide my true intellect from them.

"We don't need the assistance of the Jedi," the Commander argued to the General. "We can do just fine on our own."

"But on our own, we lost Arcadia," the Bishop said. "I, for one, welcome the Doctor."

"As do I," said the Praetorian. "The assistance of the Doctor and his Jedi companions could help us win this war."

"Now, he's only here to help us take back Arcadia," said the General, raising a hand to stop the three other Gallifreyans. "That's all I asked him for."

"What good's a Jedi going to do against the Skaroans?" asked the Commander derisively. "You gonna wave your little glowing stick at them?"

"For your information, my good man, it's called a lightsaber," I shot back, already annoyed with the Commander, but still willing to work with him. "And I don't believe that Skaroan weapons, no matter how powerful, can stand up to a lightsaber."

"The Doctor is one of the most powerful Jedi in his Order," said the General. "He's not some novice, Commander. He will do his job, and he will do it well, I'm sure."

"Very well," said the Commander with a sulky expression, and he stepped back, making sure to glare at me as he did so. "We'll let the Jedi in."

The General grimaced, and he and I moved to the holotable, the Honor Guardsmen accompanying us moving back to the entrance to the War Room to stand guard. Together, we five Gallifreyans-me, the General, the Commander, the Bishop, and the Praetorian-stood around the holotable, ready to plan our attack on Arcadia.

I'm going to be honest. It took a very long time to plan our attack, mainly because the Commander kept arguing with the rest of our ideas. He wanted a full-on attack of Arcadia, possibly causing it even more damage than was necessary. The Bishop wanted a small strike team to insert themselves into the city and take it from within. The Praetorian and the General agreed, neither really wanting to put even more lives at risk from an all-out attack. Meanwhile, I was casually playing my recorder, concentrating on the problem at hand, thinking of a possible plan. And then, just like that, I had one.

"Are you going to stop playing that thing?" asked the Commander irritably.

"Yes," I said, quickly standing up. "I've got a plan, you see, one that should incorporate both our ideas and yours, Commander."

"I'm listening," said the Commander irritably.

"It seems that, based on your information, Skaroan attack groups have a central commander to give them orders, right?" I asked.

"Right," said the General.

"Why don't we just send a small strike force to take out the central commander almost certainly overseeing Arcadia?" I then reasoned.

"Maybe you weren't paying attention while you were playing that stupid little instrument!" snarled the Commander.

"What he means is that Skaroan commanders are almost impossible to get to with a small strike force," clarified the Bishop. "They're guarded by the most zealous and bloodthirsty Skaroan troops, who will stop at nothing to ensure their commander is not killed by Drolemit forces. Only a full-on attack will dislodge the Skaroan commander."

"If we were to send a strike team," said the Praetorian, "we'd have to avoid the central commander until we're sure the city is under our control. But with you on our side, we might stand a chance."

"A small chance at best," said the Commander. "This is why we must send an invasion force to Arcadia. It's our only chance of taking back the city."

"That's why we have the Doctor," argued the Bishop. "With him, we stand a chance. Jedi are practically invincible."

Now, we all know that that's not quite true, but they didn't have to know that. I knew that I could survive a skirmish such as this, so why not entertain the notion that I was invincible? Couldn't hurt them, right?

"An invasion force isn't needed," I said. "Once the strike team takes out the commander, the Skaroans will be confused and leaderless. That's when we can send in an invasion force, take them out in their confusion."

To be honest, I thought it was a good plan, and the others did, too, even the Commander, who was pleased that his invasion could commence, even if he did have to wait for the strike team to finish off the Skaroan leader of operations at Arcadia.

It was decided that we five Drolemits-myself, the General, the Bishop, the Commander, and the Praetorian-would compose the strike team that would attack Arcadia from the inside. We prepped ourselves for the attack. I did it by meditation, if you're wondering. The other four did so by cleaning their weapons, readying them for the combat they would certainly see in Arcadia.

We left the War Tower for Arcadia the next day, the invasion force waiting for our command to move in. The five of us sneaked around stealthily toward Arcadia, slowing down only when we reached the city itself.

When I first laid eyes on Arcadia, I thought it could have been a magnificent city, just like the Capitol, were it not for the ruined state of the whole thing. Several buildings were heavily damaged or collapsed entirely, and Skaroan scout ships were roaming the sky above, looking for threats. They would certainly get them, I probably thought to myself as we moved forward.

"Scouts," said the Praetorian, pointing toward a group of Skaroans patrolling the outskirts of the city on foot. "If they spot us, we're dead."

"They won't," said the Commander, readying his long-range heavy blaster rifle, but I made to stop him with a hand, lowering the blaster.

"Some battles may be won through other means," I said wisely, and I extended my hand, concentrating on the scouts. I sent a burst of Force energy toward them, but not directly at them. Instead, I made sure I knocked some container of something over, causing the scouts to turn and look at it, readying their own weapons. The five of us, using the distraction, sprinted into the walls of Arcadia, safe, for the moment.

"Alright, team, let's start looking for that commander," said the General.

"Don't call us that," said the Commander irritably.

And we began our search for the Skaroan commander.

I'm not going to bore you all to tears with the details of our search because there aren't too many details at all, really. It was a boring search, and it took hours, and I'm getting bored just thinking about it, so I'm going to move on, if it's all the same to you.

So, after several hours of searching, we finally found the Skaroans' central commander. The Force tracking I had employed had finally yielded a result, and the strike team moved in. I activated my lightsaber to protect myself from the volleys of blaster bolts that were sure to greet us, while the rest of the team readied their weapons. I'd like to say that don't fight very often, but I will when absolutely necessary. This was one of those times.

The guards surrounding the Skaroan commander were tough to beat. Yowza, were they well-trained! They blocked off the commander in a tight formation, firing bolt after bolt at the strike team. I deflected the best I could, but I knew the five of us wouldn't hold out for much longer against the dozen or so guards furiously attacking us.

And then, the Praetorian went down, a bolt embedding itself in her stomach. When I saw her go down, time seemed to stop, just for a moment. I thought she might regenerate just as I had about ten years ago, but even still, I had grown to appreciate the Praetorian's company. I didn't want her to die on a mission that I incited. And just like that, a sort of righteous anger built up inside me. Time resumed, and I built up a wave of Force energy, hurling it at the Skaroans, blasting them away so that the only Skaroan in the general vicinity was the central commander, who was cowering at my wrath.

Now, for this next part, I don't want you judging me. I was a different man back then. A less restrained man. I did something there on Gallifrey that I'm not too proud of.

I approached the commander, fury coursing through my veins, and I deactivated my lightsaber. I looked at him, this coward, for a second, then used the Force to make him grab his own blaster and shoot himself in the head with it. He collapsed instantly, and just like that, the fury was gone, replaced only by guilt.

See what I mean about judging me? I would never have done that today, trust me.

"Doctor?" asked the General tentatively. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," I said slowly. "Yes, I'm fine."

As the General called in the invasion force, I sensed the concerned glances of the others, even the Commander. The Praetorian was being healed by the Bishop, and both of them looked at me in worry. The Commander looked fearful. He certainly hadn't expected that from a bumbling fool like me.

I made my decision then. I would not fight anymore in this Time War.

So, what's the lesson in this, you ask? It's that anyone, even the old Doctor, is susceptible to the lure of the Dark Side. That fury I felt is a fury that, had I stayed on Gallifrey even longer, would have consumed me in the Dark Side. I would have become something I eventually encountered on my quest to preserve my consciousness after my final death. The War Doctor. I would have become a monster, a shadow of the man I am today. But what do you do when you feel a fury akin to the one I felt that day on Gallifrey when the Praetorian was shot? You must learn from my mistakes. Center yourself in the Light Side, and you will defeat the influence that the Dark Side has over you. Don't give in to the hate. Only then will you be a master of the Light.

* * *

 **Wow. There is a lot of stuff in this chapter. It's definitely one of the longest in the series, rivaling some of the chapters in The Clone Wars. I felt that this chapter could have gone on for a long time, so I kind of almost cut it short. This is probably why I don't care for it as much as the others. I felt it was needlessly long. Ah well. What did you think? Leave your thoughts in a review.**

 **I've checked out my schedule for my college classes, and it looks like I'll be able to post a new chapter every Friday, as per the intended schedule. Unfortunately, it doesn't look as though I'll be able to write anything as of right now. I don't know how my classes are going to go, whether or not they'll be difficult, what homework will be like. I just don't know. So, for now, I'm going to put everything I'm writing or planning in my head right now on hiatus, with the exception of my book. I'll work on that whenever I can, though I'll probably only get a few sentences done at a time, if that. We'll see.**

 **So, yeah, that's my spiel on that.**

 **I did receive a PM from user LegoGuineaPig saying that the Halo fanfiction was something he/she would like to see. Yay!**

 **Next Friday: The Third Doctor goes on a mission against the Master.**

 **And that's about it for this author's note. Until the next chapter, my friends!**


	4. A Lesson of Sorts from an Incorrigible

Chapter Three: A Lesson of Sorts from an Incorrigible Show-Off

I'm going to be really honest with you, New Jedi Order. I don't particularly care much for my third life. That's not to say that he was a bad Doctor or anything. He was a fine Doctor. I just don't like him that much. I think the chapter title speaks for itself this time. You might like him, though, Alistair. Sarah Jane, you might, too. But I don't.

There's a lesson in here somewhere, I promise.

At this point in time, I was about two hundred seventy-four years old. I was really getting into my third life, the show-offiness of it all. It seems to be a thing that my first few lives had certain traits about them. My first life was grumbly. My second life was silly. My third life was show-offy. I was very into showing off in my third life, though. It was almost ridiculous. Sometimes I laugh about it. I laugh about it a lot, actually.

Anyway, this part of my story details my first encounter with my occasional nemesis, the Master. Yep, that Gallifreyan my second life glimpsed briefly before the mission to Arcadia.

The Jedi Council was in session when we got a communication from an unknown place of origin. I sensed a disturbance in the Force related to the call, so I requested that the Council put it through, even though they were a bit wary of the identity of the caller.

A hologram appeared, displaying a man I had seen only once before. He was a tall man with black hair that was slicked back, revealing his large forehead. He also sported a sinister goatee and moustache. All in all, his face betrayed a devilish mindset, certainly. He was adorned with dark black robes that added to the sinister look of his face. What was worse was that I recognized him immediately.

"Good morning, Jedi," sneered the hologram. "I'm looking for the Doctor."

The entire Council stared at me, looking to me to give them the identity of the man intruding upon the meeting.

"Doctor, explain," ordered Cerean Grand Master Tusuga Zsluch. "Who is this man?"

"Someone I met once, a long time ago, on Gallifrey," I said, rather dramatically, if I remember correctly. "He likes to call himself the Master. Master of the universe. That's what you'd like to think of yourself, wouldn't you, Master?"

"Oh, yes," said the Master with a wicked grin. "And now is the time when I take my dominion. You can't stop me."

"I shall certainly do my best," I challenged. "Now, tell me. What do you plan?"

"Now, now, Doctor, all in good time," laughed the Master as he cut off the communication.

I stood up and stared hard at Grand Master Zsulch.

"Grand Master, I recommend that you track that communication," I said.

"I agree, Doctor," said Grand Master Zsulch. "But where are you going?" He called after me as I half-walked, half-sprinted out of the Council Chamber.

"To stop the Master," I said dramatically as the door shut behind me.

With my cloak swishing behind me, I ran down to the hangar and told the mechanics there to prepare a ship for me. While they did that, I waited impatiently for the Council to tell me where the Master's communication was coming from.

I have to say that I was a very impatient man as my third incarnation. Along with enjoying showing off, I had a general dislike for waiting for things. Looking back on it, that may have been a bit problematic for the Council, but I, of course, didn't care at the time. I was more concerned with showing off. And, on this particular occasion, with finding and defeating the Master.

The Master, as it turned out, was communicating from the snow-covered planet of Rhen Var, as I found out thanks to the intuitive tracking systems of the Jedi Temple. For some reason, the Master wasn't communicating on a secure network, but that seemed to be the point. As I thought about the Master and what he might have had in store for me on Rhen Var, I realized that he wanted to be found. He wanted me to notice him, as I had on Gallifrey almost a century previously.

As this revelation hit me like a tidal wave, the head mechanic approached me and told me that my ship was ready.

"Thank you, my good man," I said to him with a pat on the shoulder as I moved to the ship, igniting its systems and taking off without a moment's hesitation.

I shot through hyperspace, bound solely for Rhen Var. During my short meditation, I thought about why the Master wanted me to go there, of all places. He obviously knew that Gallifreyans could withstand extreme temperatures, as he was Gallifreyan himself. So why did he send me to Rhen Var, you ask? I think that it was because Rhen Var was so inhospitable that only a Gallifreyan could go there on a moment's notice and survive. I believe that the Master wanted me alone on Rhen Var. I would, of course, find out why I was the only one he wanted on the planet itself a short while later. In the meantime, I rose from my meditation and took the ship out of lightspeed, and the huge snowy sphere known as Rhen Var came into view.

I quickly entered Rhen Var's cold atmosphere, piloting the ship as fast as I could, and I heard a loud groan as the outer hull of the ship rapidly cooled. The ship seemed to be protesting against my confrontation with the Master, but I, of course, ignored it.

"Come on, old girl," I said almost absent-mindedly. "You can do it."

I ignored more groans from the ship as I approached the surface of the planet. I could sense the Master's presence. He was here. I could feel his mania, his evil. He was planning something; this much I knew, but what? I wasn't sure at the time, but I knew it was something sinister.

I locked onto the Master's signature in the Force. It wasn't as strong as a Jedi's, but I was still able to get a lock on him. I followed the signal through the blizzard that blew all across Rhen Var, and I eventually came to a humungous citadel with an enormous statue of a man who looked to be in a state of prayer. I gazed at the statue for a moment, then moved toward the main doors of the massive citadel, wherein I was sure I would find the Master.

And sure enough, I did. Sitting on a throne in the main hall of the citadel was the Gallifreyan renegade known as the Master. He was looking quite smug as he smiled at me, showing his surprisingly white teeth. Evidently, the Master was immune to the effects of poor hygiene that often presented itself in prisons.

"Doctor," he grinned maliciously. "I'm glad you're here."

"Alright, Master, you've dragged me from Coruscant all the way to Rhen Var," I said irritably. "Now, what do you want?"

"Oh, just small requests, Doctor," said the Master nonchalantly. "Just to rule the universe and subjugate all its people."

"You can't possibly be serious," I retorted.

"Oh, but I can, and I am," laughed the Master. "The universe has always been mine. These silly beings just don't know it yet."

"The deranged ramblings of a lunatic who has spent far too much time behind a cell door," I shot back.

The Master's face contorted with rage for a brief second, then returned to its far more natural, nonchalant self.

"The Drolemits imprisoned me because they know my power," said the Master wickedly. "They know what I can do. But their prison could not hold me. I escaped, and now, I am putting my plans into motion. They will never stop me."

"Yes, I'm sure that they put you in prison because of your potential," I said sarcastically. "Not at all because you are completely obsessed with power."

"I care for what is mine!" shouted the Master. "And so will you, in time, Doctor."

"What do you mean?" I asked hesitantly, knowing full-well that this was probably the grand revelation of the Master's plan.

"Power, Doctor," said the Master, jumping right into a speech that seemed almost prepared. "Don't you crave it? As a Gallifreyan, surely you feel the urge to subjugate these pitiful mortals who could not possibly resist you."

Never. Never have I felt that urge. Not even once.

"You and I could work together, Doctor," continued the Master. "We could take our rightful place as rulers of the cosmos. Join me, and the universe will have no choice but to yield to our combined strength."

Now, I wasn't about to go join the Master on some foolhardy campaign to take over the universe, but he did have a point. I could have taken over the galaxy, with or without his help. In fact, in an alternate universe in which I actively fought in the Time War of Gallifrey, I did. But the choice I made was to never turn against the people I swore to protect. So it shall be with you, New Jedi Order.

"I'll never join you," I said firmly, probably making sure to add the right amount of chest-puffing to make my point absolutely clear.

"Are you completely sure, Doctor?" asked the Master, and I could tell he was trying to intimidate me into joining him.

"Yes, my mind is clear and made up on the matter," I answered, totally sure of myself and my feelings on the matter.

"Well, that's just too bad," said the Master with a wicked grin.

"Why?" I asked, inching my hand toward my lightsaber ever so subtly.

"Well, you see, Doctor, if you won't join me, then I can't just let you live," grinned the Master. "Goodbye, Doctor."

And he pulled out a large device from beneath his black robes. I didn't know what it was at the time, but I activated my lightsaber anyway, just in case it was some sort of weapon.

It was.

From the end of the device sprang a sword blade, similar to a lightsaber, but much more ancient. I could sense the Dark Side emanating from that weapon. It was something evil indeed.

"The ancient Rakatans once thrived all over the galaxy," said the Master. "They created a galaxy-spanning Infinite Empire. One of the planets under their control was this one, Rhen Var. I managed to dig up this weapon, something they called a Forcesaber. It was fascinating. It's not as powerful in my hands, as I cannot feel the Force, but it still does the job, if you will. With it, the Infinite Empire will be reborn, but you will never live to see it. Now, Doctor, meet your end!"

And the Master attacked.

Now, I'm going to pause here because I know what some of you are probably thinking. You're thinking that the Teller is somehow responsible for the creation of these Dark Side weapons. Well, he's not. The Teller is a Rakatan, yes, but he is a good person nonetheless. I can't sense any Dark Side affiliations in him. Don't discriminate against him for things his ancestors did millennia ago.

Alright, back to the fight.

The duel was fairly short. The Master, despite using the Forcesaber, a far larger version of my lightsaber, was no match for my skill. We fought for maybe a few minutes before I figured out his wild duelling tactics (an unwitting heavy usage of Juyo) and disarmed him.

The Master fell to the ground, panting, already exhausted from our short duel.

"You cannot stand up to a Jedi!" I shouted down at him. "Now, Master, it's back to the cells with you!"

And I dramatically hoisted him onto his feet, even though nobody was watching me, dragging him all the way back to the ship. On the way back to Coruscant, I would make a pit stop to Gallifrey to send the Master back to his special cell.

The Master would eventually break out of his cell on several occasions, whereupon I would be forced to fight him and stop his plans each time. Each time he broke out, his plans to rebuild the Infinite Empire were more rash and bravado than the last. He never succeeded, obviously. There is no Infinite Empire Reborn that has taken over the Republic. In fact, the Master perished along with all the other Gallifreyans when the Time War ended and Gallifrey was rendered uninhabitable. At least, that's about as far as I know. He might have escaped before Gallifrey's destruction, but I seriously doubt that. I would probably be able to sense his presence had he lived, and I haven't sensed anything from him for almost a century. I'm fairly certain he's dead.

So, the lesson I'm supposed to teach with this little allegory. It has to do with resistance of the Dark Side. I can't stress this enough. You have to resist the urges to give in to temptations. The Second Doctor taught you the other half of this lesson with his trip to Gallifrey. You have to resist the inner urge to give in to your hate and your anger. This portion of my life, however, should serve as a lesson to resist outward temptations, no matter how pleasing they seem. The temptation of the Dark Side is everywhere, and it will call to you, no matter what others might say to you. Just because you serve the Light does not mean that the Dark won't call out to you. I've felt it on numerous occasions. We all have. The strength of a Jedi is determined not by his or her command over the Force, but by which side he or she chooses to follow. So, New Jedi Order, which side will you serve?

* * *

 **Well, hi there! It feels like forever since I last posted, even though it's really only been a week! That's crazy! I don't even know how time could pass as slowly as it has. I guess I'm still drinking in the initial college experience. Anyway, here's the third chapter of "Adventures of the Doctor!" Hope you enjoyed it! Leave your thoughts in a review! I do read all of them!**

 **So, yeah, I definitely saw that fifteen-second trailer for The Force Awakens. It was awesome. I'm still excited. That is all.**

 **Barring any ridiculous assignments that demand my attention for an entire weekend (which shouldn't happen, I hope, please) I should be able to post Friday. If I can't post Friday, I'll find another time. Perhaps Thursday. I don't know. We'll see. For now, I'll just plan on Friday.**

 **Also, when I tried to type in the full name of this chapter, it wouldn't fit! I guess has a character limit on chapter titles. Huh...So, yeah, that's why this chapter title is missing a word.**

 **Next Friday (Or Thursday): The Fourth Doctor is pitted against a fearsome enemy from another galaxy: a Weeping Angel!**

 **And that about does it for this relatively short author's note. Until the next chapter, my friends!**


	5. Beware the Angel

Chapter Four: Beware the Angel

The story I'm about to tell you details a fear I felt unlike any other. The fear that I felt during this time of my long life is almost unparalleled by any other event that ever happened to me. And it all started with a message consisting of three words. My fourth life is commendable for his bravery, if not his foolhardiness and ridiculous fashion sense, during this time in my life.

By this time, I had already been elected Grand Master of the Order in a unanimous decision. I felt that I was ready for the task by now, and I graciously accepted the position. Despite the fact that, in my fourth life, I appeared carefree and fun, I was also very serious and dedicated to my work as a Jedi. The Force was telling me that I was ready for this, and I accepted its will.

The Council was called to an emergency meeting by the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic at the time, Chancellor Tarth Forin of Fresia. We met the Chancellor in his office, where he was sitting in a pensive position, staring down at the holoprojector on his desk.

"Good morning, Chancellor Forin," I greeted him jovially as the twelve Council members filed into the office. "What can we do for you?"

"I would hardly call it a good morning, Doctor," said Chancellor Forin, looking up at me with tired eyes that looked like they had seen too much.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Has something happened?"

"The communications array orbiting the planet just picked up a message from a mining facility on Bandomeer," said Chancellor Forin. "And it is...odd. I was hoping the Council could use their collective wisdom to help figure out what's going on."

"Absolutely, Chancellor," I said. "We'll do what we can."

Chancellor Forin pressed a few buttons on his desk, and a holographic man appeared before them, looking absolutely terrified. His clothes looked frayed and worn, and his eyes looked even more tired than Chancellor Forin's. I would have thought that it was caused by the conditions of the ionite mining on Bandomeer, but then I saw that he kept looking around, trying to catch something with his eye. And the scariest part about the message by far was that he was doing his best not to blink.

 _No,_ I thought to myself, _it can't be._

Then the man spoke.

"Beware the Angel," he said, his voice shaking beyond control. He looked around a few times more, then, just like that, the recording shut off. I managed to catch a glimpse of him throwing his hands up in defense just before the holorecorder deactivated. Not that it would have done him any good, throwing his hands up like that. You aren't supposed to look away when you encounter an Angel.

I was transfixed, completely stunned by what I had just seen and heard. Chancellor Forin said something, but I didn't hear it at all. I was still getting my mind around the implications of the message. Could it be?

"Doctor." A sharp calling of my name brought me out of my thoughts. Chancellor Forin was staring at me warily, wondering what was on my mind.

"Do you know what this man was talking about?" asked Chancellor Forin.

"Yes, I do, but I'm not sure I believe it," I said. "The Angel he referred to can't be real."

"Why not?" asked Chancellor Forin, watching me along with the rest of the Council with bated breath. I rubbed my temples in deep thought as I recalled something I had read about Gallifrey during my first life.

"In Gallifreyan mythology, there existed a race simply known as the Weeping Angels," I said. "It is not said where they came from, but they are as old as the universe itself. According to the story, the Weeping Angels can only move when they aren't being observed. The moment they are seen by any other living creature, they freeze into rock. Of course, this also means that they can't look at each other, or they would be frozen for eternity, never to move again. That's why they often cover their faces when you look at them. It's not because they're crying. They simply can't look at each other. Which is why they are also sometimes called the Lonely Assassins. They can never be seen."

"Well, can't you just stare them down to defeat them?" asked Chancellor Forin.

"You could, but your eyes would get tired eventually," I said. "And if you blink, you're dead already. The Weeping Angels are some of the fastest creatures in the universe. In the time it takes to blink, a very strong Weeping Angel might be halfway to here from the Jedi Temple. But they aren't real. They're just a myth intended to scare people."

"The message from Bandomeer seems to suggest otherwise," said Chancellor Forin knowingly.

He was right, and I knew it. It seemed that there was indeed a Weeping Angel on the loose on Bandomeer, but what was it doing there, if it were even there to begin with? But it had to be. What else had killed that man? I was intrigued. I had to find out what was going on at Bandomeer, and the only way I was going to do that was to go there and see for myself.

"Chancellor, I think I should go to Bandomeer and see if I can stop the Angel myself," I suggested.

"I think that's for the best, Doctor," said Chancellor Forin. "Shall I send a small militia force to aid you in your mission?"

"No, thank you, Chancellor," I said politely as the Council and I made to leave. "I don't really like guns, and if the Angel is real, then militia troops wouldn't really stand a chance against it, anyway."

"As you wish, Doctor," called the Chancellor as the office door closed behind myself and the Council.

* * *

I left for Bandomeer immediately, taking nobody with me and entrusting the Council with telling the truth to anyone who asked about my location.

Bandomeer was fairly far from the Galactic Core, located in the Outer Rim Territories. It wasn't hard to calculate the jump from Coruscant, but I knew it would take a while, so I centered myself in the Force during the journey, but I did not, however, list off the five main precepts of the Jedi Code.

Now, you've got to understand that at that time in my life, I didn't really agree with some of the clauses of the Jedi Code. My fourth incarnation didn't believe in strict mandates governing the way we should live our lives. I didn't openly revolt against the Jedi Code, but I inwardly disagreed with parts of it. That being said, I still believed in the Force. I just interpreted its will a little differently than the Jedi of my time. My tenth life would go on to interpret the Force's will on love very differently than most Jedi as well. I still do it today, in fact.

Anyway, Bandomeer. When I dropped out of hyperspace, I found a planet almost literally divided in half. On one half was a massive piece of land, and on the other was the Great Sea of Bandomeer. The planet was once lush and beautiful, but the Offworld Mining Corporation had taken over after valuable ionite was discovered beneath the planet's surface. The Meerians, the natives of Bandomeer, had prospered financially, but it was at the cost of their planet's natural beauty.

I landed on the planet, about fifty or so meters away from the mining facility from which the message had come. It was a large facility, one of the largest I had ever seen, in fact, and it still remains so in my mind to this day. It was huge. I thought that it might take a while to find the Weeping Angel in there.

That was assuming, of course, that the Weeping Angel didn't find me first.

Cautiously, I stepped into the mining facility, keeping my hand very close to my lightsaber, just in case things got ugly. There was a very dim light in the facility, which would have made it difficult to see had I not been Gallifreyan. We have a natural ability to see in almost any light, with the exception of complete darkness, as, unfortunately, I would find out in that facility.

One of the most interesting things I noticed in the facility was that all the equipment was still running. All of the ionite mining and refining devices were operational, and yet nobody seemed to be maintaining them. How was that possible, you ask? I did say Weeping Angels were fast. Evidently, this one had been running around maintaining the facility by itself before I had gotten there.

But why?

I had a very bad feeling about this. To make things a bit more suspenseful, that Angel hadn't shown up yet. To be honest, I almost expected it to have sensed me as soon as I walked in and been right on top of me. The fact that it hadn't worried me. What was the Angel cooking up? What plans did it have? I wasn't sure, and that worried me.

I took to examining the refining structures. I gazed at their power levels, and I noticed that they would drop for a moment, then spike back up again. What was that all about? I wondered to myself what the Angel could possibly have in mind when I turned around, and there it was. A stone gray statue, molded to look like an Angel that was crying, but I had an idea of what lay beneath that stone surface, and it scared me more than anything else about it.

"Hello," I said, keeping calm and not blinking at all. "I suppose that if I keep staring at you, you'll never move, which gives me a lot of time to talk to myself and figure out your plan. So, you're a Weeping Angel. You've got loads of power and strength, enough to wipe out the population of an entire planet by yourself, if you really tried hard. And you're on a Bandomeer ionite mining facility. It seems as though you've stayed here for a while, wouldn't you agree?"

The Angel could make no movement, but I sensed anger from beneath the surface. I was right on the mark, it seemed.

"So, you've done nothing of note except kill a few miners and run their facility in their stead," I summed up. "Why? It's not like you can't jump from planet to planet in a few seconds at maximum." And then I had it. My face lit up as I figured it out, and the Angel grew even angrier as it realized that I had. "It's because you can't, isn't it? That's why you're here at all. You can't jump from planet to planet. You don't have enough power. You must have come from a long way away, haven't you? Hmmm, yes, very interesting. Very interesting indeed. So, you've come from Force knows where to wreak havoc upon this galaxy, but you need to make a pit stop. You kill the miners and siphon the power of their equipment for yourself. Then you move on to the rest of the galaxy. How am I doing so far?" I smiled jovially at the Angel, who made no movement, but was still radiating anger. My smile grew even wider as I continued unblinkingly.

"But there's one thing you didn't count on. You didn't count that they would send someone to stop you. That someone is me. I am the Doctor, a Gallifreyan Jedi Grand Master. I know all about your little tricks, Angel, and none of them will work on me."

The Angel said nothing, did nothing, and I finally felt my eyes begin to water. I needed to blink. I figured that I could blink faster than the Angel could move, so I ventured it. Less than a millisecond went by, but it was enough for blinking to be a mistake when dealing with a Weeping Angel.

When my eyes opened, the Angel was smiling wickedly and pointing off to the side. A second later, all the lights went out, and the mining facility went completely dark. My lightsaber was instantaneously out and activated, lighting the room in a very contained space, and the Angel was gone. My blue blade shone brightly through the darkness, dousing a few feet around me in any direction in blue light. The only sound in the facility was the humming of my saber, a few pieces of refining equipment, and my breathing, which had suddenly become much quicker than before. I cursed myself for blinking and putting myself in this situation. Now, the Angel had the upper hand, and it knew it, too.

Suddenly, a horrible screeching noise rang out from the facility, and I looked around, trying my best to spot the Angel. I knew what that screeching noise was. The Angel was laughing at me. It had me cornered, trapped, and now it was taunting me. I checked all around, looking hard for this Angel, but I couldn't find it.

Just then, static crackled over an intercom system that I couldn't see.

"Hello, Doctor, was it?" asked a male voice.

"Yes, hello, that's me," I said, eager to find someone alive in the facility, but confused at to why he was so calm in the face of such danger. "Who are you?"

"I'm the miner who sent out the warning message," said the voice.

I remembered him, of course, though I didn't recognize his voice at first. I had only heard him utter one phrase before, so I wasn't likely to remember his voice very well. Even still, his voice was a voice I was glad to hear.

"Excellent news to hear that you're alive!" I cried.

"Well, see, that's the thing, Doctor," said the voice. "I'm not alive. Not anymore."

My eyes widened in shock as I listened to the voice talk some more.

"The Angel killed me just after I sent the message," he continued. "My body's been lying in the communications room for about six hours."

"How...How did it happen?" I asked, horrified that I was talking to a man who had just been killed earlier that day. What else could this Angel do to desecrate the poor souls it had already killed?

"The Angel snapped my neck," said the voice. "Wasn't as painless as I thought, but it was quick, so that's something, I guess."

"The dead don't come back to life," I said.

Well, that's certainly not true. Qui-Gon and Anakin are both indicators of that. But I digress. Back to the story.

"I haven't come back to life, Doctor," said the voice. "The Angel used some of its power to reanimate my consciousness. The Angel is really the one doing the talking right now. He just needed a voice. I guess I was chosen."

I thought I was going to vomit. The Angel had ripped out this man's consciousness and used it as its own. I was sick to my stomach. I wanted to destroy this Angel for the atrocity it had committed.

"What else do you plan, Angel?" I growled.

"You pretty much got it, Doctor," said the Angel calmly. "I plan to destroy all life in this galaxy, then move on to the next one. Simple as that."

"You'll never succeed," I said angrily.

"Are you sure?" asked the Angel. "I mean, they'll never know what happened, right? I move too fast for them to even realize what's happened to them. It's almost merciful in a way."

"Merciful?!" I cried out. "You're ending trillions and trillions of innocent lives, and for what?"

"For fun," the Angel said simply.

At this, I was beyond furious. Things started to actually break around me when I next spoke.

"Fun?!" I roared. "I can assure you that this won't be much fun! This galaxy and its people, its beautiful, wondrous living beings, are all defended! You will never take this galaxy! It is defended!"

"By whom?" asked the Angel curiously.

"Well, for instance, me!" I shouted.

I already had an idea. I used the Force to grab onto the refining equipment's master controls and overload the power supply. I then threw my lightsaber around the room, arcing it throughout the room, its blade destroying each individual power console as well as the master controls, overloading the power supply of every piece of refining equipment even more. The Angel roared bestially as its mining facility was systematically destroyed. I hauled myself out of the facility, using Force Speed to sprint out of there and back to my ship as fast as I could. I had already keyed in the sequence to take off when the facility exploded in a red and white ball of flame. My ship shook, but I was unperturbed. The Angel was destroyed, and a galactic crisis was averted, quite magnificently so, if I do say so myself.

And here we are with the moral of this particular story. I can tell you right now that I was scared out of my mind when I encountered that Weeping Angel. More scared, perhaps, than any other time in any of my lives. But here's where the lesson comes in. I stood fast and defeated that Angel, completely disregarding my fear of it. I held on to my duty and saw it through to the end. That is what you all must do as well. As Jedi, we don't walk away from our duty, no matter how scared we are. We've got to be brave, primarily because we are the defenders of the galaxy. We have a lot of responsibility on our shoulders, and we need to be brave in spite of whatever terrifying things we have to face. I could have backed away from that Angel because I was afraid, but I didn't. I put my duty to the galaxy first, and, as Jedi, as a part of something bigger than all of us put together, that is what we all must do.

* * *

 **A chapter with a much shorter title, thank goodness! I enjoyed writing this one. I feel that it really called back to the Eleventh Doctor's arc against the Weeping Angels, which is pretty cool.**

 **With that callback, though, I knew I had to incorporate the Fourth Doctor's personality into this, and I hope I did that well! Let me know your thoughts in a review!**

 **Doctor Who Series 9 is airing next Saturday, and I am BEYOND excited! I mean, I liked Series 8 and all, but there was something...off about it. I can't really describe it. I don't know. The episodes just weren't as memorable, although they were all good and well-written and whatnot. Hopefully Series 9 will blow it out of the water. Not the Dark Water, though. Just the water. A free internet to anybody who got that reference, by the way!**

 **Next Friday: The Fifth Doctor meets a familiar face for the first time.**

 **And finally, a more somber note. Today is September the 11th, a day of tragedy for the United States. Almost three thousand people died in the attacks perpetrated upon the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and what may well have been the White House, were it not for the brave men and women of Flight 93. All I ask is that you remember their lives and the lives of the thousands upon thousands of innocent civilians who died because of the resulting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, even if you don't live in the U.S. Because such a tragic loss of life should not go down as a footnote in history. It should be-it has to be-remembered.**

 **That's it for this author's note. Until the next chapter, my friends.**


	6. The Destiny of Plo Koon

Chapter Five: The Destiny of Plo Koon

My fifth incarnation is famous for a lot of things, his physicality in particular. What can I say? The ladies loved me during that time. But that's not the point of the story. The point is that in my mind, my fifth incarnation is famous for three things in particular: saving an entire planet with a small kettle and a piece of string, that ridiculous stalk of celery that he wore on his cloak-it's good to know that my fashion sense has improved with time-and this particular story, the story of how I met one of my best friends during the Clone Wars and even sometime before that: Plo Koon.

Now, the Koon family has had many of its members join the ranks of the Jedi Order. Aside from Plo, there was, among others, Plo's uncle, Jon, as well as Plo's niece, Sha, who was unfortunately killed along with much of the rest of the Jedi Order during the execution of Order 66. Now, I had known the Koon family for a very long time because of their connection to the Jedi Order, so I was not surprised when I could sense a Kel Dor from that family who bore Force Sensitivity in his genes. What did surprise me was just how powerful he was in the Force. Yowza, indeed! I mean, he was really powerful, more powerful, certainly, than most of the other Jedi hailing from Kel Dor I came into contact with. I knew that I had to bring him into the Jedi Order. What I didn't know or ever expect was that I was about to meet my best friend.

I requested a shuttle to be prepared for my journey to Dorin. When asked why, I remember only saying to the mechanics that I had somewhere to be, and that the Force was calling me to Dorin. Jon Koon soon joined me in the hangar bay, and we talked while the shuttle was prepped.

"Where are you heading off to, Doctor?" asked Jon Koon.

"Your home planet, actually," I responded kindly. "I've sensed another Koon who will hopefully join the ranks of the Order."

"Ah, yes," said Jon knowingly. "You must be referring to my nephew, Plo. He was just born about a year ago. I had hoped that he would be joining us, and my hopes are confirmed."

"He is very strong with the Force," I commented. "He has the potential to be more powerful than many of our fellow Jedi."

"As well he should be," said Jon proudly. "He's a Koon. Not that I mean to boast, Doctor, but we Koons are a bloodline tied strongly with the Force."

"Indeed," I said with a smile.

"Would you mind if I join you?" asked Jon. "I imagine that my brother would like to see me."

"I don't see why not," I said reasonably. "Welcome aboard."

"Thank you, Doctor," said Jon, graciously bowing to me in gratitude.

Now, for a while, Jon and I talked about all manner of subjects, from Gallifreyan culture (I had been to Gallifrey a few more times during temporary ceasefires, but I always left before I could get sucked back into the fighting) to our favorite free-time activities (Jon liked to tinker with his lightsaber, while I liked playing a Gallifreyan sport called cricket, though I'm now quite fond of football). It was a very splendid little chat, and it passed the time before we had to leave for Dorin.

At last, however, the shuttle was ready, and Jon and I boarded it, setting our course for Dorin.

Dorin is a planet that is situated right between two black holes, making it nearly impossible to travel there. Of course, that didn't stop me from flying straight toward the planet itself.

"Doctor, won't you need a breath mask?" asked Jon.

"No, I'll be fine," I answered quickly. "Gallifreyans can breathe just about anywhere in the universe. I've even heard that we can survive in the vacuum of space for a little while, but I have yet to try that out."

"I pray that, for our sakes, we don't try it today," said Jon cautiously.

"Oh, we won't," I said, flying the shuttle out of the path of the two black holes and into the atmosphere of Dorin.

Dorin's atmosphere was pretty dark, if I do say so myself. It was grey and gloomy, and I didn't like it then. To be honest, I still don't like it very much. But that's not the point of this story. I should probably get back to that, shouldn't I?

Anyway, so, we landed on Dorin. All in all, I'd say it was a pretty smooth ride. After we touched ground, I unloaded the boarding ramp as Jon took off his antiox mask. He didn't need it on his own planet. I certainly didn't need it, either. I could breathe in this atmosphere, even if the Kel Dors were the only other ones who could.

The atmosphere of Dorin was comprised of helium and a unique gas known only as Dorin gas, which smelled like raw fish and tasted even worse. Even still, there was a sufficient amount of oxygen for me to keep breathing, small though it was.

Jon and I walked across the surface of Dorin, searching for Jon's childhood home, in which his brother was staying at the time. I could sense Plo Koon even now, and it got me a bit excited. If I could sense his power now, imagine what I could sense when he was a fully-trained Jedi. My fifth self certainly thought that that would be cool, for lack of a better term.

Finally, we reached Jon's brother's home, and I knew instantly that Plo Koon was inside. I could sense him crawling around on his little baby Kel Dor legs. Jon swelled up with pride the moment he had sensed it as well. When he sensed it, he knocked on the door, which opened up almost immediately to reveal a Kel Dor female. I could hear various baby noises from behind her, and I realized that those noises must have been coming from Plo.

For the purposes of this particular story, I should probably tell you all that we were all speaking Kel Dor, not Basic.

"Jon," said the Kel Dor woman. "What a lovely surprise."

"It is good to see you, Nai," said Jon. "May we come in?"

"Of course," said Nai, stepping back to allow us inside. "Dal," she called, "your brother is here, and he's brought a friend."

Turning to me, she said, "And you are?"

"I'm sorry," I said, in fluent Kel Dor, thank you very much. "I should probably have introduced myself. I'm the Doctor."

"Doctor what?" asked Nai.

"If you like," I said with a small smile in her direction. Before Nai could respond, a Kel Dor male, whom I figured was Dal Koon, Plo's father, appeared before them. At the sight of Jon, Dal Koon spread his arms wide and wrapped his brother in a hug, laughing heartily.

"Good to see you again, brother!" cried Dal. "How go the Jedi duties?"

"Very well, my brother!" responded Jon.

"Excellent!" laughed Dal. Looking at me, he added, "And who is this man who doesn't wear a breath mask on our planet?"

"I'm the Doctor," I said with a grin. "I don't really need a breath mask. Anywhere, not just on Dorin."

"Fascinating," said Dal curiously. "And what brings the Doctor out to remote Dorin?"

"Well, that's what we were wanting to talk to you about," said the Doctor. "We've come to learn that your son, Plo, is Force-Sensitive. We'd like to train him as a Jedi Knight."

Now, usually, the parents of the new Initiate have two reactions to being asked to give up their children to the Jedi Order. Some are hostile, very hostile. I've had things thrown at me on at least two dozen occasions, ranging from chairs to blasters to just about everything in between. Some are reluctant, but they understand that to be a Jedi would be a wondrous experience for their children, so they give up their children somewhat willingly. The Koon family, having as many members who joined the Jedi Order as they did, were always delighted to add another to our roster.

"I knew it!" cried Dal. "I could just feel an aura of the Force about him."

"As could I!" whooped Nai. "Oh, what a joyous occasion!"

"What a proud moment this is for our family!" called Dal.

"I felt the exact same way when I first sensed him, brother!" said Jon.

"Oh, Doctor, thank you for bringing us such wonderful news!" cried Nai, giving me a big old hug, which I returned as gracefully as I could. Even back in the rather youthful days of my fifth life, I was a bit odd on my feet. Still am, if I'm being totally honest. Again, Jennara, I know you're laughing as you're reading this, so stop it.

"The Koon family continues its legacy," said Dal as he picked little Plo Koon up from the floor of the Koon household. "Be brave, my son, and be excellent!"

"Farewell, Plo!" said Nai, tears of joy at having added another Koon to the roster of the Jedi Order.

I took Plo Koon in my arms, along with a small-size antiox mask that Dal had given me, and Jon and I strode back to the ship that had brought us to Dorin in the first place. I put the mask carefully on Plo's face while Jon warmed up the ship and lifted.

"Well, that was the most pleasant initiation of all time," I commented.

That was true, at least from my perspective. I never had a more pleasant initiation before that, and I didn't have one after.

"You should have been there for mine," said Jon jokingly. "My parents were practically throwing me to the Jedi who came."

I laughed at this as I picked up the now-sleeping Plo Koon in my arms, and we headed back to Coruscant from Dorin. I looked at Plo thoughtfully. Had I realized that I had met the Jedi who would become my best friend? No. I only thought him to be an exceptional candidate for Jedi status. I had no idea that his death would affect me more than almost any death I had ever experienced. I didn't know that the Kel Dor who would become my closest confidant was just initiated into the Jedi Order. To me, he was just a baby at the time.

The lesson in all this? It was a pretty short story, so I can understand if you missed it. You can meet friends in the most unlikely of places. I certainly didn't expect to meet my best friend in my fifth life. I only really got to know Plo Koon about four hundred standard years later, in my tenth life. And who knows? Some of you might have already found your best friend, and some of you have yet to meet your best friend. But the Force will bring you together in time. It is my firm belief that it was Plo Koon's destiny to become my friend, to be a confidant for me in a time when talking about your experiences, especially traumatic ones during the Clone War, was a very good thing indeed. And your destinies will collide with those of the people you meet, of course, but they will run side by side with the people who are your friends. So, New Jedi Order, who are you running alongside?

* * *

 **Hello, all! Here we are with Chapter Five of "Adventures of the Doctor," in which we meet Plo Koon! I do love Plo Koon's character, and I really wanted to include him into this story! I'm definitely glad that I got that chance. Fun fact: I definitely used the power of mathematics to determine that Plo Koon would, in fact, have been born during the era of this universe's Fifth Doctor, which I was absolutely ecstatic about when I learned. It was incredible! Anyway, nerd moment is over.**

 **Hey. Guys. Hey, guys. Doctor Who Series 9 is premiering tomorrow night, and you know I'm gonna be talking about it. Next chapter, I will commence that talking about the episodes of Doctor Who that premiered the previous week. That will go on right up until the epilogue of this story is posted, as this story will be finished before Series 9 wraps up. Based on reports from various news sites, I think Jenna Coleman might be leaving the show this season, which I'm simultaneously okay with and not okay with. On the one hand, I love Clara, and I don't want her to leave. On the other hand, however, she's been the longest-running companion in the modern-era Doctor Who. When this season ends, I believe her run will be just a small handful of episodes longer than Amy Pond's. So, while it will be sad to see her go, the show is all about change, and it has to happen eventually. With a show like this, two or three seasons is probably enough for any actor, Doctor and companion alike. Jenna Coleman, if you do leave this season and are into Doctor Who/Star Wars fanfiction enough to grace my humble attempt at it, I'd like to say to you that it's been a good run. You were one of my favorites.**

 **Next Friday: The Sixth Doctor loses a Padawan and learns a lesson.**

 **And that's about it for this author's note. Until the next chapter, my friends!**


	7. The Time I Lost a Padawan

Chapter Six: The Time I Lost a Padawan

I'll tell you something, New Jedi Order. My sixth life was quite a pompous Doctor. I doubt if any of you would like him. I don't even like him. He was very flashy and not at all humble. There's probably a reason that he was the shortest-lived of my lives.

Even still, my sixth life was not without sombre moments, despite his outwardly arrogant personality. Perhaps my darkest hour in my sixth life was the loss of Peri Brown. Perpugilliam Brown, referred to by me as Peri, was a Padawan of mine, one I lost before her training could be completed. Her loss caused my sixth life quite a bit of grief, and I didn't take on another Padawan until I regenerated. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start with the story.

It all started when I was called to Trandosha to settle a dispute between two rival tribes of Trandoshans. You all know what Trandoshans look like, I assume. Big tall lizard people with a particular bloodlust that rivals the Silurians. No offense meant, Vastra.

Anyway, two tribes of Trandoshans were fighting, or they were about to fight, and I was called upon to stop it. I decided to bring Peri along. I thought it would be a good idea for her to see how Jedi negotiate. But this is my sixth life, so in retrospect, it probably wasn't a good idea to put her in such danger. It's one of the many regrets I have.

"Come along, Peri," I commanded regally as I walked toward the Temple hangar bay. "We're going to Trandosha."

"Oooooh," said Peri. "Sounds like fun. What will we be doing there, Master?"

Notice how she called me Master. In my sixth life, I was a bit of a pompous idiot.

"Negotiating, Padawan," I answered. "Settling a dispute between Trandoshans. Violent creatures. They generally rely on brute force to settle things."

"They do sound pretty violent," said Peri. "Are you sure you can negotiate with them?"

"Do you doubt me, Peri?" I asked.

"No, Master," answered Peri. "It's just that it seems like these Trandoshans might not react too kindly to having us around."

"Nonsense," I said. "The Trandoshans could use some of my intellect. Yours as well."

Again, pompous idiot. Can't stress that enough right now. I really should have listened to Peri.

Anyway, so we got to the hangar bay, and Peri and I took a shuttle to Trandosha. I entered in the hyperspace coordinates, and we were off. The trip took a few hours, so I meditated as best I could. My sixth life wasn't very good at the whole meditation thing. Peri was fairly good at it, though, so I was proud of her for that, if not a little envious.

When we dropped out of hyperspace, we were going further and further toward one of the biggest mistakes of my life. Of course, I didn't know that at the time. How could I? My sixth life had this particular trait about him that made him think he was always right. Really can't stress the whole pompous idiot thing enough.

Peri and I landed on Trandosha. I extended the landing gear, and I regally walked onto the surface of Trandosha, Peri not far behind. I gazed around the grasslands, wrinkling my nose at what I think I perceived to be a smell. I'd been to Trandosha since then, and I didn't smell anything, so maybe it was just my sixth life being my sixth life. Regardless, Peri and I walked to the villages where the Trandoshans we were trying to settle down lived, and we entered one of them to a lukewarm greeting at best. Trandoshans didn't typically like Jedi back then, and it showed.

"Be very careful, Peri," I warned as we walked along the main road of the village.

"Yes, Master," said Peri.

Two distinct tribes of Trandoshans were settled in this one village. One tribe had greenish skin, and the other had brownish skin.

"Jedi!" some of them snarled in Dosh. A few very burly Trandoshans licked their lips maliciously. They were ready for a fight, and it didn't seem as though they were about to give up a good fight because two Jedi asked them to.

Peri and I entered one of the village hovels, wherein two Trandoshans, the leaders of each tribe, I assumed, were waiting for us. They were sitting very anxiously, and I could see their hands inching closer to their weapons.

"You need not use your weapons," I said imperiously. "The Jedi are here to help settle this dispute."

"Do not overstep your bounds, Jedi," said one of the Trandoshans, a brown-skinned one.

"Overstep my bounds?!" I cried. "I'll have you know, sir, that I am the Doctor. I do not overstep bounds!"

"You are not here to command us, Doctor," said the other Trandoshan, a green-skinned one. "You and your human friend are here to oversee this...mandated negotiation."

From the green-skinned Trandoshan's snarling of the phrase "mandated negotiation," I could tell that they didn't like this idea. Not one bit. They preferred to fight out their differences. Unfortunately, they would get their wish. But, again, I'm getting ahead of myself.

"I assume both your tribes have been ordered to stand down," I said, sitting down across from the Trandoshan tribe leaders while Peri stood behind me.

"Reluctantly," snarled Brown. My sixth life never bothered to learn their names, so whenever I remember this story, I always call the leaders Green and Brown.

"Let's just get this over with," seethed Green.

"Very well," I said, pursing my lips and trying not to smell them. Green and Brown didn't smell very nice, and my sixth life didn't like it much. I would have done my best to ignore it, but my sixth life certainly didn't.

"Why is your ugly face so scrunched, Jedi?" hissed Green.

"Oh, it's only your smell that repulses me," I shot back before I could stop myself.

"For a Jedi, you are exceptionally rude," snarled Brown, standing up and throwing chair back, staring at both me and Peri menacingly. "I do not appreciate it."

"Neither do I," said Green.

"There now," I said with a smirk. "You have some common ground."

"That may be," said Brown. "But it does not mean that we will willingly negotiate."

"But you must," Peri insisted. "The Republic will not allow you to fight each other. Not with Jedi present at negotiations."

"Shut up, human girl!" shouted Green, pulling out a blaster from his belt and pointing it at Brown. Brown did the same, and they both snarled at each other.

"No!" I shouted.

"I tire of these games!" roared Green.

"THERE WILL BE NO NEGOTIATIONS!" bellowed Brown, and he fired.

Peri and I activated our lightsabers, raising them in defense. Green slumped to the ground, a blaster hole in his chest. His eyes rolled in the back of his head, and he died. Brown shoved past us and let out a roar that echoed across the entire village. Soon, Peri and I could hear blaster fire throughout the camp. Negotiations had failed. The tension between the tribes had escalated to physical violence. We had failed. We needed to leave.

"I think we should get out of here, Master," said Peri.

"I agree," I said, and we left the hovel and poor Green's dead body behind.

Outside the hovel was chaos. Blaster bolts were flying all over the place. Peri looked terrified.

"We're going to have to run through it!" I called to her, seeing no other possible alternative.

"Alright," said Peri, trusting my judgement. She probably shouldn't have.

Our blue sabers glowed in the daylight as red lasers shot past us. Peri and I ran for our lives, deflecting any crossfire that happened to come our way. We were unstoppable. A Master and Padawan duo could usually never be stopped, but there were a few exceptions. Unfortunately, this was one of them.

Peri and I were almost out of the crossfire when tragedy struck. I heard a cry of pain and turned. I saw Peri lying on the ground, a blaster hole in her chest, just like Green mere moments ago. She was alive, but barely.

"PERI!" I cried out in terror, rushing over to my Padawan and cradling her head in my arms.

She had been caught in the crossfire, and unfortunately, she wasn't fast enough to deflect it away from her. Her life was already fading, and it was my fault. I comforted her as best as I could while the battle raged all around us. The Trandoshans were too focused on killing each other to bother with us. We were relatively safe, for the moment.

"Peri, no, please," I begged. "Please don't go."

"I'm sorry, Doctor," she said weakly. "I failed you."

"No, you didn't fail me, Peri," I said, abandoning my arrogance in favor of my true nature. "It was I who failed you. I'm so sorry."

"Goodbye...Doctor..." And Peri was gone. Just like that.

There have been a few times in my life where I have been shaken to the point of immobility. One of those times was the few moments after the execution of Order 66. This was another one of those times. Seeing Peri, someone I had grown to care about, someone who gave me company when I felt that I had no other true friends to do so, dead, I felt a sort of sadness that enveloped me ten times over. I thought it was odd at the time. My sixth life spent the next few years wondering why I had felt this way. And then, of course, I did.

After a few minutes of sitting there, cradling poor Peri's dead body, I stood and ran the rest of the way to the ship that brought us to Trandosha. I laid Peri down on a cot in the quarters, then took off, leaving the two Trandoshan tribes to fight amongst themselves. I don't know who came out the victors. I didn't really want to know, I think. I was too distraught with the memory of Peri's death to care about that particular dispute.

In my grieving, my sixth life refused to take on another Padawan, though I never outwardly said it. Whenever the subject of Padawans would be brought up or become very close to being brought up, I would excuse myself from the conversation or ignore it entirely. I didn't want to talk about Peri's death any more than I had to. Typical arrogance from my sixth life. Believed himself so infallible that when he figured out that he was fallible, he hid it just to save face. That's not how it works.

I suppose I should probably tell you how it works, then. Here's where the lesson comes in, so take notes. When someone you care about-and you will care about certain people, trust me-dies, you have to talk about it. You can't just bury your feelings within yourself. They will fester and grow until you are consumed by them and, more than likely, the Dark Side.

Saesee Tiin comes to mind when I talk about burying feelings. His Master, Omo Bouri, died, and Saesee had a very difficult time with it, so much so that his usefulness on the Council had come into question. He didn't speak about Master Bouri for nearly twenty years, and it caused him a lot of built-up pain. I wonder sometimes if I could have helped him further toward letting go of the pain had he lived through Order 66. I'm not sure, but here's the point I'm trying to make. People die. That's life, unfortunately. And sometimes, you feel lonely. I know I've felt lonely in the past. The best thing you can do is talk about it. I can tell you that I'm always here to help. So, what do you say?

* * *

 **Alright! So, that's chapter six! It's kinda short, yes, but there's only so much of pompous Sixth Doctor I could write before the Trandoshans got sick of him. Hope you guys enjoyed it! Be sure to leave a review and such, because I always enjoy hearing your opinions of my work!**

 **I've notices that bashes the Sixth Doctor, but I don't really think he's that bad. I mean, I enjoyed Vengeance on Varos. I don't know. He's not the best Doctor of all time, not by a long shot, as he's beaten out by pretty much almost every Doctor who comes after him, with the exception of maybe Seven, though I'm not too sure, but he's not exactly a bad Doctor. He's just different, and that's what the show's all about.**

 **Okay, so, the Series 9 premiere. Let's just talk about that for a second. It...was...INCREDIBLE! IT WAS SO GOOD! I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT EPISODE! And I'm not just geeking out here. I mean, it was legitimately one of the best openers to a season of Doctor Who I've seen yet. Yes, I get it. The Daleks are overused blah blah blah, but Davros's role in this episode was so brilliant. I just couldn't take it! And Missy...oh my God, Missy. Michelle Gomez needs a BAFTA or a Tony or whatever she needs an award for this episode alone! She was beyond incredible! Every scene she was in, she stole it right out from underneath every other actor. When she said something totally bonkers, I found myself laughing because it was brilliant. Oh man...well played, Moffat. Well played. I'm interested to see how he'll dig himself out of his hole in the next episode, though. If you've seen the episode, you know exactly what I'm talking about. If you haven't, WHY HAVEN'T YOU SEEN THE EPISODE?! GO WATCH IT! IT'S INCREDIBLE!**

 **Next Friday: The Seventh Doctor takes on the Cybermen!**

 **And that about does it for this author's note. Until the next chapter, my friends!**


	8. The Cybermen of Mondas

Chapter Seven: The Cybermen of Mondas

My seventh life was a bit of a master manipulator, to be perfectly honest. It was definitely one of my more circumspect periods, I should say. So much so, in fact, that I am fairly certain I could have contended with the likes of Darth Sidious in that particular respect. As there was no Darth Sidious to match wits with, my seventh life had to settle for the intellects of the rest of the universe, which weren't all that bad, to be fair.

I've got to say that my seventh life's calculating mind was at its finest when the Cybermen invaded.

I should probably back up a bit here. Right now, you all are probably wondering what in the Force the Cybermen are. In short, Cybermen are technologically enhanced beings from Mondas, a planet in a galaxy far, far away. From what I learned through my encounter with them, the Cybermen used to be flesh and blood, but chose to "upgrade" themselves into "better" beings. They feel the need to convert other beings into Cybermen and were planning to do it to the citizens of the Republic. Cybermen, upon conversion, are programmed into this sort of hive mind, their emotions lost along the way. They obviously can't reproduce, being droids with actual brains, so that's how the species survives and grows. Assimilating other species into their ranks and robbing them of their individuality.

But don't worry about them. They won't be coming back for a very long time, I imagine.

The first and only time I ever encountered the Cybermen of Mondas was when I was in my seventh life and approaching seven hundred years in age. I was still Grand Master of the Council, though the Council membership had changed quite a bit. By this time, we had the legendary Wookiee Jedi Master Tyvokka on the Council. I'm sure I've told a few stories about him. If not me, then Chewbacca definitely has, if you can understand Shyriiwook, that is. Unfortunately, Tyvokka died before the outbreak of the Clone War, so he never fought with us then. However, it was he and his Padawan, Plo Koon, along with several others, who helped me to defeat the Cybermen when they tried to invade the Republic.

We had first heard reports of several attacks on various planets in the Outer Rim. What piqued the interest of the Jedi was that the victims of the attacks all described the exact same beings as their attackers. Armored men who were merciless in their annihilation of any enemy in their path.

I don't need to tell you that the attackers were the Cybermen.

Of course, we didn't know that at the time. At the time, we thought it was some other group, perhaps a splinter of the Mandalorians of old trying to regain some form of honor and the control they had had on the galaxy about three-and-a-half thousand years before. We weren't sure because the victims didn't actually know that the Cybermen were called Cybermen, but they did state that it was too dangerous for one single person to face them.

So, naturally, I took a team of Jedi down to the site of the latest attack, Ord Cestus, home to the insectoid X'Ting, to see if we could negotiate a ceasefire with whatever had attacked them. It was a group of about ten Jedi, ranging in rank from Padawan to Master. The group consisted of me, Tyvokka, Plo Koon, Jedi Master Polvin Kut, his Padawan, future Council member Yaddle, as well as several Knights named Myema Webal, Aren Torwyn, Goran Dimmias, Larana Mesoth, and Sirca Malric.

"Keep your minds sharp," I told my fellow Jedi as our transport ship travelled through hyperspace toward Ord Cestus. "These attackers are most likely very dangerous. Do not provoke them if you can help it."

"Yes, Doctor," said the others in unison.

I smiled at them, and Tyvokka stood to speak with me privately.

"Doctor," he said in his native Shyriiwook, "what do you think awaits us on Ord Cestus?"

"I don't know, Tyvokka," I said, rubbing my forehead in thought. "And that's what worries me. The victims had no idea what the attackers were. We don't have a strategy to deal with them."

"I am sure that you will think of something," said Tyvokka, placing an encouraging paw on my shoulder. "This new body of yours is perhaps one of the smartest beings I've ever encountered. Your mind will serve us well."

"Thank you, my friend," I said with a smile.

I moved up to the cockpit, where I had left the ship on autopilot through the vastness of hyperspace, and sat, thinking as I stared into its vortex. I think this is where I developed my love for staring out into hyperspace, or, at least, noticed that it had developed, anyway.

As I stared, I thought and thought and thought about a plan of action, but without any proper experience with these beings, whatever they were (Cybermen. They were Cybermen.), my mind was useless. I hated it, this not knowing what to do. It felt as though I were taking a huge risk with this mission, and I didn't want to put any lives in danger by not knowing what to do.

I shook myself. Tyvokka was right, I told myself. I would think of something.

And I would indeed do just that, but not before our ship was intercepted by the deadly Cybermen.

Our ship had dropped out of hyperspace, and we were going to land on Ord Cestus, but the ship suddenly groaned to a halt.

"What was that?" asked Myema Webal.

"Something's got us," I quickly deduced. "But what?"

We crowded in the cockpit, looking out the transparisteel viewport to see what was going on. I couldn't see anything for a moment, so I closed my eyes, reached out with my senses, and found a massive ship looming eerily over us, cloaked from our normal view. That thing was huge. It looked like two great big wheels connected by a long tunnel, and it seemed to have enough firepower to level an entire planet.

"By the Force," murmured Polvin Kut.

I opened my eyes. Evidently, the ship had uncloaked itself for everyone to see. I could sense the fear of the Knights and Padawans. Yaddle and Plo Koon looked terrified, but even Tyvokka was a bit shaken. I was scared, too, but already, a plan to get us out of this situation had begun to take form in my mind. And that was when they hailed us.

"Yes?" I asked, staring at the ship warily as I answered its communication.

"You have trespassed upon the newly-conquered territory of the Fourth Cyber Legion," said a very mechanical voice that almost sounded like a droid. "Your ship is now under the influence of our tractor beam. You will surrender and be upgraded or face deletion."

"This ship is a vessel of the Galactic Republic," I said, very strongly so that my irritation could be heard. "If you attack us, we will be forced to call for the full reinforcements that our organization has to offer."

"Your Republic is meaningless," said the mechanical voice. "It and all its inhabitants will soon be upgraded into Cybermen."

"Somehow, I doubt that," I said challengingly.

"Your doubtfulness is a weakness," said the Cyberman on the comm. "We will take away that weakness and all other weaknesses when you are upgraded."

The Cyberman disconnected, and I felt the nervousness of the other Jedi coming off in waves.

"Those things want to turn us into one of them?" asked Plo Koon nervously.

"It would appear that way, young Padawan," said Tyvokka.

"An idea to get us out of this situation, do you have, Master Doctor?" asked Yaddle in her odd, backward speech pattern.

"I've got a few, yes," I said, leaving out the part where I thought that maybe only one of them would work, if the Force liked us very, very much.

The Cyber ship's tractor beam pulled us into its hangar bay, and we were immediately surrounded by dozens of Cybermen, all with wrist-mounted cannons pointing at us. Looking back on my memory of them, they kind of remind me of a cross between Mandalorians and those B2 battle droids the Separatists used during the Clone War.

All ten of us ignited our lightsabers, and I opened the bay doors. Instantly, the Cybermen were upon us, firing dangerous blue lasers at us that looked like they could incinerate us in an instant.

"Be careful!" I shouted to my companions over the blasterfire.

"Right!" called Myema Webal as she dodged a bolt aimed for her head.

Unfortunately, in the end, it wasn't enough. Barely a minute into the battle, I heard a cry of pain coming from my right, and I saw Goran Dimmias go down in a hail of bolts. I mourned his passing for a moment before Aren Torwyn caught a bolt in the head and was dead before his body hit the floor.

"We're losing Jedi fast!" cried Plo Koon as Larana Mesoth was shot down barely seconds after Aren Torwyn.

"Remember your training, young Plo!" called Tyvokka, who was swinging his yellow-bladed lightsaber in all directions to catch Cybermen blasterfire. "We can survive this yet!"

I spun my blue lightsaber all around my body, deflecting bolts right back at the Cybermen. It was pandemonium, for sure. Even my heightened Gallifreyan senses were having trouble keeping up with it all.

We had fought for maybe two minutes against the Cybermen when Sirca Malric was shot down. I saw that we would eventually be completely overwhelmed by the vastly and hilariously superior numbers of the Cybermen. There seemed to be no hope whatsoever, but as we all know, hope can come in the most unlikely of forms. This form happened to be a new plan to get us out of here.

"We surrender!" I shouted over the blasterfire, which instantly stopped at my declaration.

All of a sudden, there was silence, except for the humming of the six lightsabers still active.

"Doctor," whispered Tyvokka, "what are you planning?"

"You'll see," I said cryptically, deactivating my lightsaber. "Follow my lead."

The other five remaining Jedi did as I instructed, switching off their lightsabers. The Cyberman that appeared to be in charge marched up to us and spoke in a tinny, mechanical voice that sounded exactly like the voice of the Cyberman that had communicated with us earlier.

"You will be taken prisoner, and you will be upgraded," it said in a monotonous drone.

"That sounds like such fun," I said sarcastically. "But first, I demand to see your leader!"

"You are in no position to negotiate," said the Cyberman. "You will be taken prisoner as requested by our Cyber-Leader."

"But I want to see your leader," I said, hatching an idea. "Where is he?"

"I cannot say," droned the Cyberman.

"I'd imagine he's at the bridge, controlling just about everything you do, hm?" I asked.

"I cannot say," the Cyberman said again, although his reaction was just a bit too late. That told me that the Cyber-Leader definitely was on the bridge, just as I had thought.

"He can probably see us right now from about a hundred different angles," I continued, staring right into the Cyberman's face. "You there! Cyber-Leader! I've got some information for you on our Republic! But you'll never get it out of me!"

"We have ways of extracting information from unwilling subjects," droned the Cyberman.

I suppressed a shudder at the thought of the horrible torture the Cybermen used on what they called "unwilling subjects."

"You will be taken to the torture chambers now," said the Cyberman, gripping my arm very firmly. I heard grunts from the other Jedi and a roar from Tyvokka as Cybermen gripped them firmly as well.

"Wait!" I said, desperately searching for an answer. I found one in less than two seconds and continued, "What if we joined you? Infiltrated the Republic for you and made your passage through a bit easier? You'd have a much better time converting Republic citizens if we told them you weren't a threat, don't you think?"

The gears in the Cyberman's head seemed to visibly whir, giving off the impression that it was thinking very hard.

"New orders from the Cyber-Leader!" it droned in a slightly louder voice so that all the other Cybermen could hear. "We are to bring the prisoners to the bridge!"

"We obey!" droned the chorus of Cybermen surrounding us.

"Very good!" I said with a smile on my face, which, of course, belied the plan that I had stirred up in my head. "Now, take us to your leader!"

Glancing back at my astounded Jedi friends, I added, "I've always wanted to say that."

We were taken to the bridge by an advance guard of Cybermen, including the one I had spoken to in the hangar bay. During our trek to the bridge, Tyvokka spoke to me in a very hushed voice.

"What are you planning, Doctor?" he asked.

What was I planning? Well, during that time, large groups of droids, like the B1 battle droids used by the Trade Federation during the Occupation of Naboo, were often powered by a central controller. In the case of the B1's, there was a massive ship hanging in orbit that powered them. In the case of the Cybermen, I had assumed that the central controller was the Cyber-Leader. As soon as I heard mention of the Cyber-Leader, I knew that it must have been controlling them. There was absolutely no way anyone could coordinate an attack against ten Jedi that fast without being the central controller of a bunch of computers programmed to kill.

Of course, I had improvised the rest of the exchange, and the Cybermen played into my hands magnificently.

I told you I was pretty cunning in my seventh life.

"You'll see," I said with a cheeky grin as we approached a massive door the opened silently.

We had arrived at the bridge, wherein several dozen Cybermen were standing or sitting around various consoles, maintaining the systems of the ship, no doubt. And at the center of it all was a Cyberman with a black helmet to distinguish him from his fellows. This, my friends, was the Cyber-Leader.

Now, any sane person would have looked at this horde of Cybermen and quaked in his boots. But I did not consider myself a very sane person in my seventh life, and so I stared them down fearlessly, knowing that in order to defeat these Cybermen, I would first have to destroy their leader.

"Welcome, intruders," droned the Cyber-Leader, who had a voice with just a slight touch of inflection to further distinguish himself from his subordinates.

"I would hardly consider this a warm welcome," said Polvin Kut angrily.

"Silence," said the Cyber-Leader as the Cyberman I had spoken to approached the leader, our weapons in hand.

"Their swords, Cyber-Leader," droned the Cyberman.

"They look nothing like swords, Lieutenant," said the Cyber-Leader, examining my lightsaber as well as Myema Webal's with an expressionless face.

"The blades are created from an unknown energy source," said the Cyber-Lieutenant, who obviously didn't know about the crystals inside every lightsaber ever. "They have the power to deflect our lasers."

The Cyber-Leader gazed-intently, I assume-at the lightsabers, and I could see the gears whirring inside its head, too.

"Further study of these weapons is required if we are to adapt this technology to our own," droned the Cyber-Leader. "Perhaps these non-Cybermen will be willing to help us with that task."

"Oh, of course!" I lied. "After we defeat this pesky Republic, of course we'll help you research!"

The Jedi behind me were all flabbergasted. Love that word. Flabbergasted. Perfectly describes what the Jedi were feeling at that moment in time. Anyway, yes, they were flabbergasted at my behavior. And they certainly should have been. All of a sudden, I, the Doctor, was cavorting with beings who threatened the safety of the Republic. It was cause for flabbergastedness, surely.

 _Don't worry_ , I thought to them. _I've got a plan._

The fear emanating from the Jedi died down a little. They understood what I was doing, and they were willing to go along with it. All they needed to do was follow my lead and let me get to my lightsaber.

"You will be of great use to us," said the Cyber-Leader, setting the lightsabers down on what I assumed was a command console. "What do you call yourself?"

"I'm called the Doctor," I said. "These are my associates: Tyvokka, Plo Koon, Polvin Kut, Yaddle, and Myema Webal." I motioned to each Jedi in turn, and they bowed to the Cyber-Leader in feigned respect. "But enough about us. Tell us about our new robot overlords, Cyber-Leader."

"We Cybermen hail from the planet Mondas," droned the Cyber-Leader. "We were once a flawed organic species with emotional constraints. But we were forced to upgrade ourselves when our planet was knocked out of its orbit. Eventually, every Mondasian chose to undergo full conversion, doing away with emotions and feelings. It is our mission to convert the entire universe into Cybermen."

"And how does one become converted to a Cyberman?" I asked, genuinely curious, as I approached the Cyber-Leader.

The answer the Cyber-Leader gave me horrified me to my core. I'll spare you the details, but I can assure you that it was quite gruesome.

"That's very...interesting!" I said, putting on a brave face to hide my disgust.

"Indeed," said the Cyber-Leader. "You all will undergo conversion eventually once we conquer your Republic."

"Of course," I said, using the Force to get a firm grip on my lightsaber. "But not today."

"Correct, because you will help us to conquer it," assumed the Cyber-Leader.

You know what they say about assuming, don't you, New Jedi Order?

"No," I said. "Because we have no intention of helping you."

"All units atta-" That was all the Cyber-Leader could get out before I decapitated him swiftly and fiercely with my newly-activated lightsaber.

The Cybermen reacted for about half a second before it got into their systems that their controller was dead. They all froze, and we were left with dozens of Cybermen all in various stages of reaction to my sudden attack on their leader. The Cyber-Leader itself crumpled to the ground uselessly, its head rolling on the floor of the bridge.

"There," I said, deactivating my lightsaber and clipping it to my belt. "That should do it."

"We should leave," advised Tyvokka warningly.

"Agreed," I said, "but first, I have something to take care of."

I went to a device that looked like a communications systems and keyed it to all known frequencies in the Cyber-ship's database, which I assumed led to other Cyber-ships.

"Now, hear this!" I said into the communicator loudly and clearly. "Whatever you're thinking of doing with those silly little spaceships of yours, don't bother with it! Because you will never convert this Republic into Cybermen or battle droids or whatever you are! And do you want to know why? Because this galaxy is under the protection of the Jedi Order! And at its head is me, the Doctor! You might be wondering where your Fourth Cyber-Legion went. Let me tell you. I defeated them single-handedly. If one Jedi can defeat an entire legion of Cybermen, think of what an army can do! So whenever you think that maybe you can take on the Galactic Republic, remember me! Remember this black day, then do the smart thing, and let somebody else try first!"

I cut the communication, and I led the Jedi, who were probably in awe of my speech to the Cybermen, back to the shuttle. We flew off, taking the bodies of our fallen Jedi friends with us and leaving the Cyber-ship to rot in space for eternity.

I need not say that the Cybermen never bothered us again. You're welcome.

The lesson? I'm awesome, and never mess with me. I'm joking, of course. The real lesson is that when there seems to be no possible hope of anything, just remember that you are Jedi. The Force is on your side. It will provide for you when you need it most, and even when you need it least. In that desperate hour wherein we were captured by the Cybermen and almost converted into one of them, the Force provided me with a plan to get us out safely. The Force provided me with that plan, just as the Force will provide for you whenever you get into a spot of trouble in the form of an instinct. Trust your instincts, New Jedi Order, and the Force will do the rest.

* * *

 **So, it occurred to me late last night that I didn't post on Friday. Or yesterday, for that matter. I apologize profusely! I guess it had just slipped my mind or something. Maybe I was too preoccupied. I don't know. Anyway, here's chapter seven of "Adventures of the Doctor!" I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! But what did you think? Let me know your thoughts in a review!**

 **So, the previous two Doctor Who episodes, since I saw the new one last night, as well as the previous one the week before. They were both well-written episodes. The characters are, as usual, well-crafted, well-thought-out people. The plot of episode 2 was a little confusing, but maybe I have to watch the two-parter in context to get the whole thing. Episode 3 ended with another "main character is dead but obviously not dead" cliffhanger that really only provides suspense for the next episode, and only in the sense that I'm wondering how said dead-but-not-dead main character escapes his/her "fate." Ah well. Hopefully Moffat and his team don't continue this trend, because it's kind of annoying. Just saying.**

 **Oh, and Jenna Coleman has confirmed that she'll be leaving Doctor Who after Series 9. I think it might create a more emotional impact for the Doctor if Clara dies, but the writers can do what they want, I suppose. Moffat's probably going to kill her. It's Moffat, guys. Come on.**

 **Hopefully, I won't forget to post this Friday. In fact, I'll make certain that I don't. So, you can expect the next chapter this Friday, for certain.**

 **This Friday: The Eighth Doctor makes a choice that will become a defining moment for the Doctor.**

 **And that about does it for this author's note. Until the next chapter, my friends!**


	9. My Defining Moment

Chapter Eight: My Defining Moment

There comes a time in every being's life, New Jedi Order-regardless of age, gender, species, creed, whatever-when he or she must define who he or she is for the rest of time. Now, I've had plenty of defining moments for all my different lives, and they usually come right after a regeneration, when I define to myself what this next life will be like. Will I be funny, carefree, and child-like? Or will I be dark, brooding, and boring? But I've had one defining moment above all, one that would set the tone for the remainder of my incarnations up to the present day. Oddly enough, this moment didn't come at the beginning of one of my lives, but the end of one. The end of my eighth life, to be a bit more specific.

My eighth life was around for about ninety-two years, if I remember correctly. A fairly average lifespan for me, I'd say. Much longer than my sixth life, who called it quits after sixty years and a bump on the head, but I digress. This story is about my eighth life, not my sixth.

Of all my incarnations, my eighth was the least experienced in combat. A lot of my previous incarnations, and even my current one, at least had some combat under their belts. I might avoid it, but I fight when it's necessary, as you know. My eighth life, however, avoided combat at all costs. He absolutely hated it. I was a pacifist as my eighth life. I doubt my third life would approve.

Around the Temple, my eighth life was a respected and revered Jedi. I often gave lectures to the Initiates, to which they paid rapt attention. Even some of the Masters and Knights attended a few, seeking to learn from me, I'd imagine. I think one of the reasons many of the Masters respected me during my eighth life was for the fact that, during that time, I almost never drew my lightsaber, save for basic lightsaber training for the Initiates. Indeed, my lightsaber hadn't seen any real combat in almost a hundred years by the end of my eighth life.

But, eventually, there came a time when I began to feel that I had stayed the full welcome of my eighth life. With the exception of my sixth life, I had always gotten these feelings toward the end of each incarnation. It often ranged as far as duration was concerned, from several days in my fourth life to as little as an hour or so for my tenth, but the feelings was usually the same. My time in that particular body had come to an end, and it was time for me to regenerate.

Regeneration is an...interesting subject, New Jedi Order. Oftentimes, those who hear or read about it need to hear or see the information again to make sure they fully understand it. I will not be surprised if this is the case with you, and I want you to know that confusion is perfectly normal when experiencing a regeneration, second-hand or otherwise.

Basically, what happens is that when a Gallifreyan such as myself is mortally wounded or, in this particular case, chooses to regenerate, his or her body is enveloped in this golden light that essentially serves to rewrite the Gallifreyan's entire body, And I mean the entirety of everything. Height, weight, size of the hearts, length of the fingers, you name it. Even the mindset of the Gallifreyan in question is changed, sometimes very radically, as was the case with my fifth regeneration. Sometimes, though very rarely, a Gallifreyan will switch genders during a regeneration. Obi-Wan, Luke, Jennara, and Leia will most likely remember that I voiced my fears of having regenerated into a girl immediately after my tenth regeneration.

Now, a Gallifreyan is allowed twelve regenerations, a total of thirteen incarnations, before his or her life runs out entirely. But Gallifreyan bodies are different than the bodies of, say, a Human or a Bith or a Wookiee. They can last for much longer durations of time, upwards of a thousand years, I'm told, per incarnation. We can live for very long times. I, however, chose to regenerate early, having accomplished what the Force intended for that specific body to do.

And now, my eighth regeneration and my defining moment as the Doctor.

I had been having the feeling that the Force was calling me to regenerate for about a day or so. I, of course, meditated on it, to make sure that what I was interpreting as the Force's will was true. After several hours of concentration, I emerged from my chambers, solemn, but excited. I wondered what my new face would be like. Would he (or she, I wondered) be funny? Charming? Witty? Sarcastic? What would his stance be on fighting? Would he enjoy it, as my third life had? Would he try to avoid it, as my fifth life had done? Or would he downright reject it, as I was currently doing in my eighth life?

All of these questions and more would be answered within the hour.

I called a meeting of the High Council, and the other eleven Jedi Masters who comprised the august body, Tyvokka included, greeted me as they walked into the Council Chamber.

"You summoned us, Doctor?" said Tyvokka in his native Shyriiwook after we had all sat down.

"Yes," I said. "Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come for me to regenerate once again. The Eighth shall become the Ninth."

I had a knack for a bit of dramatic flair in my eighth life.

Several Council members looked quizzically at me, but Tyvokka nodded in understanding. He knew exactly what I had meant, having seen my previous regeneration firsthand.

"Doctor," said Tyvokka. "I have a proposition for you in regards to your impending change."

"What do you have in mind, Master Tyvokka?" I asked.

"After viewing your previous regeneration, I have devoted a great deal of my time to the study of your species's rare gift," explained Tyvokka. "And I believe I have found something most interesting."

"Go on," I said, curious.

"There is a Gallifreyan potion that will allow you to choose the basic outline of your next incarnation," said Tyvokka. "You could be a healer, or a politician, or a warrior."

I had heard of that potion. Evidently, it was pretty rare and, therefore, extremely hard to come by. If Tyvokka had acquired some, then I would have been very amazed.

"Of course, I haven't actually procured any," said Tyvokka, "but I have learned a technique that should have a similar effect. We, the Council, can guide you in your regeneration."

"I appreciate the offer, but why do you ask this, Master Tyvokka?" I asked.

"A Gallifreyan leader named the General made contact with the Supreme Chancellor today while I was meeting with her," answered Tyvokka. "He is desperate for your help, Doctor. The Time War, as he called it, is spiraling out of control. The General believes that your assistance is the last hope for Gallifrey. He wants you to become a warrior and fight with his armies."

I paused for a long moment, thinking about my options. I could become a warrior and fight with my people, possibly saving Gallifrey, or I could do nothing, regenerate randomly, and leave my planet to die. I did strongly consider leaving at first. I had the chance to save my planet from total destruction. All I had to do was fight with the Drolemit Gallifreyans.

But then I remembered the rage I had felt during my first visit to Gallifrey, in my second life, wherein I had almost lost myself to the Dark Side fighting against the Skaroans. I got the feeling that I would lose myself completely if I fought. Plus, the battleground was personal to me. Gallifrey was where I was from. To fight for the stability of that planet would, in turn, destabilize me with my personal attachments to the planet.

I had made my decision, and I unknowingly defined who I was as the Doctor.

"No," I said quietly. "I can't do it. I can't fight on Gallifrey."

"We will abide by your decision, Doctor," said one of the other Council members, a Bothan named Gir Kre'Sei. "We will not pressure you in any way."

"Thank you, my friends," I said. "It's just that to fight on Gallifrey would be far too personal for me, seeing as I'm from there." I neglected to tell them about my fear of turning to the Dark Side while fighting, but I think that they had figured that out for themselves.

"It is understandable, Doctor," said Tyvokka. "And I personally commend you for your bravery. It is one thing to show bravery in battle, but another entirely to show bravery by not fighting at all. Shall we?"

"Of course," I said with a smile. "Few are fortunate enough to witness a Gallifreyan regeneration."

I stood up, and the Council followed me to a secret room within the Temple to which only the Council had access. That particular room has been used almost every single time I have regenerated, with the exception of my sixth regeneration, when I had been off-planet on a mission, and my tenth regeneration, when I was unable to go to the Jedi Temple because it was being heavily guarded by Imperial stormtroopers.

But it's not the room that helps me. It's the beings around me. It seems that whenever there are Jedi around me, my regenerations go much smoother. Maybe I'm subconsciously stabilizing myself with their Force energy to recuperate my own. I'm not entirely sure, but that seems to be the way it goes with these things. Such was the case here.

I walked to the center of the room, preparing myself for the inevitable.

"If you wish to change your mind, Doctor, we will understand and help you," said Tyvokka from the edges of the vast, dimly-lit room.

"I've made my choice," I said resolutely. "I will not fight in the Time War."

"Very well," said Tyvokka. "When you're ready."

"Physician, heal thyself," I murmured as I spread my hands wide.

I closed my eyes, giving myself up to the Force, letting the regeneration begin at the Force's leisure. It took maybe a few seconds to start.

Regeneration is a bit of a painful process. It has to be, as you're literally rewriting just about everything that makes you you, save for the memories. This particular regeneration was the second-most powerful I have ever experienced, with the exception of my tenth regeneration, which, Han Solo will probably most vehemently tell you, nearly took out his ship, the _Millenium Falcon_.

The golden light enveloped my hands, my feet, my entire body in a calming warmth. It crept up from my chest to my face, soothing me and calming me as I let myself go to the regeneration. After a few seconds, I began to feel a tingling sensation all over my body, followed by a burning feeling that grew more intense with each passing second. And after a while, I could hold it in no longer. I was ready. I released the energy, officially beginning my eighth regeneration.

If you ever want to know what a regeneration feels like, imagine the worst burning you have ever felt and double it. Now triple that, and you have a regeneration. Of course, I don't feel that particular burning until the very last second, when the pain is at its worst, and I can feel my body changing very rapidly. During the last second of my eighth regeneration, I could feel my shoulder-length hair receding back into my head. I felt myself growing taller, and my ears and nose getting bigger. My robes were pressing against my body as it grew too large for them. The fiery feeling had reached its climax, and I let out a yell, first in my own voice, which rapidly changed into my new, then-unfamiliar voice. And then, just like that, it was over. I was a new man.

I collapsed on the floor of the regeneration room, exhausted from my ordeal. I panted heavily as though I had just done an extremely vigorous workout, even for a Gallifreyan. I looked at my new hands, noticing the torn sleeves of my old robes. I would eventually change them, of course, but for now, I just needed to lie where I was for a moment.

"Doctor?" came a voice in Shyriiwook. It was Tyvokka, and the big Wookiee Jedi Master was kneeling before me, putting his huge paw underneath my head, supporting me as I sat up.

"How do you feel?" asked Tyvokka tentatively.

I looked around at him and the rest of the Council for a brief few moments. Then, my face split into a wide grin that my ninth life would be known for throughout his time as the Doctor, and I uttered the very first word my ninth life ever spoke, which would also serve as his catchphrase, of sorts.

"Fantastic!"

I've got to tell you, New Jedi Order, that not fighting in the Time War ended up being one of the smartest things I have ever done. In my tenth life, during a quest set to me by the spirit of Qui-Gon Jinn, I came across a vision of myself, what I would have become had I fought. He called himself a bunch of different names: Beast, Valeyard, Oncoming Storm. I called him the War Doctor. Anyway, the War Doctor was an agent of the Dark Side, and a very powerful one at that. I think I was sporting bruises from my fight with him for several days afterward. He repulsed me, and though I had initially regretted my decision after Gallifrey finally fell, I realized that my eighth life was right to abstain from the Time War. I didn't want to become that monster in any way.

Gallifrey would eventually fall about a hundred years after I regenerated into my ninth self. Everyone on the planet died. The Master, the General, the Bishop, the Commander, the Praetorian, everyone. They all died. Gallifrey was rendered uninhabitable, which killed all life on the planet, and it eventually crumbled into dust and nothingness. The Time War had killed Gallifrey. I don't claim to know what started the Time War, and I doubt even Rassilon knew what had caused it during his time. But I do know that it had destroyed my home planet, and I alone survived because I did not fight. For a while, I wasn't sure if I should have been grateful or guilty, but I eventually learned that Gallifrey would have been destroyed anyway, regardless of whether or not I fought. It was just a question of whether or not I would have been the one to kill it. Yes, the War Doctor would have destroyed Gallifrey himself had I become him during my eighth regeneration.

The lesson we can find in this instance of my life is this: It doesn't matter where you come from, which group you belong to, or even what species you are. None of that matters. It is your choices that define who you are as a being of the galaxy. Your choices will affect the outcomes of wars, political campaigns, and especially your own lives. What role you play in this galaxy is determined by your actions. I could have been the most powerful ruler the galaxy has ever known, but I would have had to lose what makes me the Doctor in order to do that, and no amount of power is worth that. My eighth life defined who I am, and I am grateful to him for that. My eighth life didn't know that, of course, but he knew that he made the right decision, and I still know that today. And now, the time has come for you to define who you are, New Jedi Order. So, how will you be defined?

* * *

 **Hey, all! Hope you had fun reading this chapter of Star Wars (Starring the Doctor)! It's actually one of the last! We've got two more chapters, then a short epilogue, and that's it. It's been quite a journey, and I'm glad I got to share it with all of you. Anyway, I'll save my goodbyes for the epilogue! For now, tell me what you thought of this chapter in a review! I do read them! I promise!**

 **This chapter was a lot of fun to write, and I hope I got Paul McGann's Doctor okay. I did my best with what little on-screen material I had to glean some kind of character from him, although what was there did a brilliant job of it. McGann is actually one of my personal favorite Doctors (he's somewhere in the top five), so I hope I did his character justice!**

 **As I briefly discussed last week's Doctor Who episode on Sunday, I won't talk about it here, but I'll talk about tomorrow's episode next Friday, when I post the Ninth Doctor's story. It'll definitely be there.**

 **Time seems to be passing more slowly now that I'm at college, and I don't really know how to feel about it. Just some random thoughts that popped into my head.**

 **Next Friday: The Ninth Doctor takes on a fearsome terentatek in the bowls of the Kashyyyk Shadowlands!**

 **And that's about it for this author's note. Until the next chapter, my friends!**


	10. The Doctor vs the Terentatek

Chapter Nine: The Doctor vs. the Terentatek

My ninth life was one of the more tumultuous times of my life, emotionally speaking. For one thing, it was during my ninth life that I felt the destruction of Gallifrey, which left me scarred for a while. To top it off, a few years or so after Gallifrey's demise, there was a woman who was very important to my ninth life. She gave me life and something worth fighting for when I thought there was nothing left. I knew her only as Rose, and unfortunately, she died while under my protection. I thought about her and Gallifrey often during the last years of my ninth life.

Fortunately for you, New Jedi Order, this particular story takes place before the death of Rose and the destruction of Gallifrey. In fact, it takes place about thirty years prior to those particular events, so they were a long way off for me at the time. I won't bore you with the angsty last years of my ninth incarnation. There's way too much sad in those years.

No, I'm going to tell you a much more exciting story. I've told Jennara this story already, and I believe Master Obi-Wan heard this from Qui-Gon Jinn, who heard it from his Master, Dooku, who in turn heard it from me when I was training him. Chewbacca was around when it happened. General Fordo would also be more than willing to relate this story to you all, but I think you'd appreciate it a bit more if it were coming right from the source.

Oh, yes. It's the infamous terentatek story.

By this time, my ninth self had established himself pretty well in the Jedi Order. He was witty, sarcastic, and a bit of a manic young child, despite the fact that he was about two decades over eight hundred at the time of the terentatek story. He was the first of my lives to use the green lightsaber that I carry with me to this day, as well as a shoto that was destroyed in a fateful duel between my tenth life and Darth Vader six years ago. My ninth life also had a penchant for saying the word "fantastic" a lot, which was, as I said before, the first word he uttered. He would use the word quite often when he fought the terentatek.

I keep mentioning the terentatek, but I should probably tell you what it is because you most likely don't know. Terentateks are big old beasts with razor sharp teeth, claws, and tusks that protruded out of the sides of their mouths. They look like mutated rancors, really, and they feed off the blood of Force Sensitives. They like to live in places where the Dark Side is strong. If terentateks knew how to travel between planets by themselves, I imagine that I might have found one in that Dark Side Cave on Dagobah. A few millennia ago, there was a Great Hunt conducted by the Jedi Order to wipe out the terentateks, which was a relative success. The Jedi did succeed in the near extinction of the terentateks, but they came back not three centuries later, and they'd been around ever since. As far as I knew, the terentatek I fought was one of the last of my time, although I'm fairly certain one or two are still around from when Darth Sidious rose to power.

I was in a meeting with the Council, which now included not only Tyvokka, but Yaddle and Omo Bouri, Saesee Tiin's future Jedi Master, when a communication came through from the office of the Senator of Kashyyyk. I put it through, and a hologram of the massive Wookiee Senator, Yarua, appeared before us.

"Hello there, Senator Yarua!" I greeted him in Shyriiwook. "This is a pleasant surprise. What brings you to our neck of the galaxy?"

"I require the assistance of the Jedi Order," said Yarua solemnly.

Something was wrong. I could sense it, and I snapped right into business mode.

"Anything you need, Senator, you name it," I said.

"There has been a terentatek beast that has recently moved its refuge in the Shadowlands to a portion of the Shadowlands near the village of Kachirho," said Yarua. "A few of the Kachirho warriors have gone down to try and vanquish the beast, but to no avail. It is simply too strong. I have listened to my people, and Tarrful, the leader of Kachirho, wishes for the Jedi to provide assistance. Specifically, he has asked for Master Tyvokka."

"I will go," said Tyvokka resolutely as he stood. "Kashyyyk is my homeworld. I wish for it to be safe from the threat of the Dark Side."

"Very good," said Yarua.

"I'd like to go as well," I said, standing up quickly to join my friend, Tyvokka. "I can understand the need to keep oneself and one's home safe from the Dark Side. Plus, I've never seen a terentatek before. I'd like to see what would happen if I fought one."

"As you wish, Master Jedi," said Yarua warily. Clearly, he was unsure about my tagging along, something that would be made very apparent to me later on "I will arrange for transport for the both of you to head to Kashyyyk. May the Force be with you."

Tyvokka and I bowed to Senator Yarua. The hologram of the Wookiee Senator faded, and the Council was adjourned.

"Looks like we're working together again, Master Tyvokka," I said with a grin as we walked to the Temple hangar bay together.

"It would appear so, Doctor," said Tyvokka. "I am glad that you are partaking in the terentatek hunt with me."

"I'm curious, Tyvokka," I said honestly. "I want to see how this body would fare against one. I think it's definitely one of the most fit of them all."

"You certainly do move around a lot in that body," said Tyvokka.

"I love all the energy I have now!" I burst out manically. "It's fantastic!"

"I agree!" said Tyvokka with a laugh. "Youthful energy is a wonderful thing to see in one who is older than most."

"You and I see eye to eye on that," I agreed with a nod of my head.

And Tyvokka and I left for the hangar, talking and joking like two old friends.

We took a shuttle to Kashyyyk and, after a long hyperspace flight, landed in the Kachirho village, where we were to meet the newly-elected leader, Tarrful, in the village square. It was night when we arrived, and the stars were twinkling and dancing in the inky black sky.

"The universe never ceases to amaze me," I said, in awe of the Kashyyyk nighttime skyscape.

"Each and every planet has a certain beauty about it," said Tyvokka. "Even planets that have no life whatsoever contain something wondrous to behold."

I smiled, but said nothing more as we journeyed to Kachirho. When we arrived, the greeting we got was strange indeed. While many of the Wookiees of Kachirho were in awe of Tyvokka, some of them had noticed me walking alongside him and began whispering words like "outsider" and asking questions like "Who is that?" I had known that Wookiees were a bit wary of those who weren't from Kashyyyk. They had been that way for a long time, but I think the slavers of Czerka Corporation who invaded the planet a few thousand years ago only intensified that dislike. Still, as far as Wookiees went, these ones were fairly tolerant. They confined themselves to just whispering about me instead of openly attacking me, which some Wookiees were known to do to outsiders.

Tyvokka and I walked through the village, and I did my best to ignore the glaring and staring of the Kachirho Wookiees. They were clearly none too excited to see me there. It seemed that the leadership wasn't, either. When Tyvokka and I entered the chieftain's hut in the Kachirho village, a particularly old, grey-haired, and rather grumpy-looking Wookiee standing to the right of a black-furred Wookiee sitting in the chieftain's chair snorted at me derisively.

"It was to my understanding that Senator Yarua would be sending only Master Tyvokka to aid us," the old Wookiee snarled. "Who is this outsider who dares to tread his disgusting feet upon Kachirho land?"

"He is called the Doctor," explained Tyvokka. "He wishes to assist you just as I do."

"We Wookiees can handle ourselves," growled the old Wookiee. "We do not need an outsider to help us. I should kill you for your presumption that you can help us!" The old Wookiee lunged toward me, and my hands almost instinctively moved to my lightsabers-I had built my shoto and my current lightsaber by this point-but the old Wookiee was stopped by the black-furred Wookiee in the Chieftain's chair, who I assumed was Tarrful.

"That's enough, Shormum," said Tarrful. "I am not pleased about the presence of the outsider, either. Like you, I was under the impression that Master Tyvokka would be coming alone. But the outsider is here, and we will not waste our breath by telling him to leave."

"Thank you, Chieftain Tarrful," I said, bowing graciously to the black-furred Wookiee. "I will assist you in any way that I can."

"Be silent, outsider," snorted Shormum, the old grey Wookiee. "You will speak only when spoken to."

Not all Wookiees are that mean, trust me. Shormum was just old and cranky. He'd come around eventually. In the meantime, Tyvokka spoke for me.

"We are here to help," said the Wookiee Jedi Master. "How can we assist?"

"We will be sending you down with a group of Kachirho warriors to the last place the terentatek was seen," said Tarrful. "Be warned, Master Jedi. Where you are going is a dark place, even for the Shadowlands. But we must vanquish the beast. It is encroaching itself upon our land, and it must be stopped, regardless of our feelings about the land."

"We'll get started right away," I said resolutely, but it seemed that Shormum had other ideas in mind.

"You will not partake in the hunt," the old Wookiee snarled. "I will not let an outsider encroach upon our land as the beast has. You will stay here, under my watchful eye."

"What?!" I cried out in surprise.

Tyvokka roared a very nasty word at Shormum that I don't really feel comfortable repeating. He stood up angrily and bellowed even more at Shormum.

"How dare you waste the Doctor's time by keeping him cooped up in your village?!" he roared. "You are foolish not to send him!"

"He is an outsider!" Shormum roared back. "The Shadowlands would be his undoing! To send him down there is the foolish choice, Master Jedi!"

"Shormum!" called Tarrful. "Do not be so arrogant to believe that only a Wookiee can brave the Shadowlands! What about the Hairless One? He braved the Shadowlands for decades! For Bacca's sake, he made a home there! He even fought and defeated another terentatek, albeit with some help, when he was an old Human! Surely, this Doctor can handle himself!"

Shormum was glancing from Tarrful to me and back to Tarrful. He looked at me one last time, then got a very nasty grin on his face.

"Very well," said Shormum. "This Doctor will go to the Shadowlands to fight the beast."

"Thank you," said Tarrful irritably, but I could sense that he was planning something.

"But he will go alone," Shormum said nastily.

Again, Tyvokka roared another word at Shormum that I don't really want to repeat.

"Shormum, you can't be serious," said Tarrful. "You just said the Shadowlands would be his undoing."

"Then let him prove me wrong," said Shormum, grinning at me. "Let him prove that his survival instincts are on the level of the Hairless One. If he can defeat the beast, he will have my respect. If not, good riddance. He is an outsider. I care little for him."

"You are a vengeful fool, Shormum!" shouted Tyvokka angrily.

"Your petty squabble with the Doctor will not undermine the hunt, Shormum," growled Tarrful.

"It's alright, Chieftain," I said calmly, standing tall in front of the three considerably taller Wookiees. "I'll go to the Shadowlands and fight the beast on my own. When I return-" I gazed hard at Shormum, emphasizing the "when" of my statement. "-we'll celebrate the destruction of the terentatek, and it'll be fantastic!" I smiled my cheeky smile that my ninth self was so well-known for, and Tarrful sighed.

"Very well," he said. "The Doctor will go alone, as per Shormum's request. I will prepare the wooden elevator for your descent. May Bacca guide your blade to victory."

"Thank you, Tarrful," I said, bowing once more. "I won't let you down."

* * *

As I was about to make my descent into the Shadowlands from an elevator in the trees about a kilometer from Kachirho, Tyvokka approached me cautiously.

"Are you absolutely certain that you wish to do this, Doctor?" he asked. "Shormum is trying to send you to your death."

"I've got the Force on my side, Tyvokka," I said, placing a calming hand on the Wookiee's big shoulder. "I'll be fine. I'll be more than fine! I'll be fantastic!"

"Indeed," said Tyvokka with a small smile. "Very well, Doctor. May the Force be with you."

"Thanks, old buddy," I said, clapping the Wookiee Jedi Master on the arm.

Tyvokka left, and I was then approached by Tarrful and a young, brown-furred Wookiee I didn't recognize at the time, though I eventually came to know him as our good friend, Chewbacca.

"Are you ready, Doctor?" asked Tarrful.

"I am, Chieftain," I confirmed.

"Then I wish you the best," said Tarrful. He indicated Chewbacca and continued. "This is Chewbacca. He is a good friend, and he will take you into the Shadowlands."

"Hello, Chewbacca," I said, holding out my hand. "I'm the Doctor. Nice to meet you."

"It is nice to meet you as well, Doctor," said Chewbacca.

See? What did I tell you? Not all Wookiees are big old brutes. Chewbacca is one of the nicest beings I know, and this right here is prime evidence.

"I will take you down, then?" asked Chewbacca.

"Lead on, Chewbacca," I said.

Chewbacca and I bid Tarrful farewell, climbed into the big wooden elevator, and began the descent.

Chewbacca and I did not speak very much, owing to the very dark and solemn place to which we were going. The Shadowlands were unforgiving; this much I could tell just by looking out over the edges of the elevator.

"How far down are we going?" I asked.

"To the very bottom of the forest," answered Chewbacca. "The most dangerous and dark places, where the most dangerous beasts thrive. The terentatek is there."

"How long will it take us to get there?" I asked about an hour later. We had been going down for about two hours, and I was starting to wonder if we'd ever reach the bottom.

"I'd guess several hours," said Chewbacca. "This elevator goes very slowly. It sometimes takes upwards of a day, depending on who's operating it. I'll do my best not to take that long."

"Fantastic," I said quietly, and we fell silent again.

The rest of the journey down was mostly silent, and it took forever. By the Force, that might have been the longest I-don't-even-know-how-long in my entire life. I was getting bored, and when my ninth self got bored, he started to pace.

"Calm yourself, my friend," said Chewbacca soothingly. "It is not much longer."

"Sorry, I'm just bored," I said. "I need to do something."

"We will be there before long," said Chewbacca.

"Right," I said, and I fell silent again.

It was another hour of pacing and forest noises before the elevator finally touched down into the floor of the Shadowlands. It was dark. Really really dark. I don't think I've ever been surrounded in more complete darkness, save for the encounter with the Weeping Angel. At least now I had Chewbacca with me, if only for a little bit.

"I will start a small fire," said Chewbacca, getting to work immediately. "When you are ready, you may leave."

"How will I know where to look?" I asked curiously.

"We Wookiees can sense when the beast is near," said Chewbacca when his roaring fire had been constructed. "I believe you Jedi have a similar ability, do you not?"

"Yeah, we do," I said with a nod of my head, reaching out with my senses and looking for the terentatek. I could feel it just faintly in the back of my mind. I would have to travel quite far into the Shadowlands in order to find the beast.

"I can feel him. It's faint, but he's here," I said, more to myself than to anyone else.

"I cannot," said Chewbacca. "You must be correct. The beast is far away from this place."

I stared into the thick tree trunks lit very dimly by the fire, almost waiting for the terentatek to burst from the forest and attack. When nothing came, I took out my main saber and activated it, its blade illuminating the small space around me with green-tinted light.

"I'm off to find it," I told Chewbacca. "I'll be back soon."

"Doctor," called Chewbacca before I left, "Shormum doesn't think you can survive. That's probably why he sent you down here alone. Prove him wrong."

"I will," I said. "And thanks."

And I left.

The Shadowlands of Kashyyyk are creepy, New Jedi Order. Very creepy. The whole place is dark, as the wroshyr trees are so astronomically huge that barely any sunlight, if any at all, gets down that far into the forest. I couldn't tell whether or not it was day or night on Kashyyyk when I went down there, and it didn't really matter to be honest. What mattered was getting to the terentatek, no matter how creeped out I was by the ambience.

I journeyed through the Shadowlands carefully, taking light steps so as not to attract any more attention to myself. The hum of my lightsaber was giving me away to some harmless Tachs, who looked at me curiously, yelped once, and moved on. I moved on as well, following the ever-growing presence of the terentatek in the back of my mind. I was getting closer. I could feel it.

Walking around in the Shadowlands made me feel nervous. I kept checking behind my back to see if anything was there. There was always nothing, but that didn't stop me from checking every few minutes to see if something had begun to follow me.

Eventually, I could feel the terentatek's presence so strongly that I had to stop and breathe for a minute. It was close. I had been walking around and following its signature in the Force for nearly an hour, but the beast was closer than ever now. I had to keep going. I held my main lightsaber aloft and moved on.

I reached what looked like a sort of ritual site. Corpses and bones were everywhere, and there was a hint of the Dark Side about them. There was no doubt about it. The terentatek had been here, and it was likely to come back, especially if it smelled my presence in the Force, assuming that it hadn't already.

I broadcast my Force signature to the terentatek off in the distance, so loudly and clearly that it had no choice but to come and see what was in its nest. I soon became aware of thunderous booms shaking the ground beneath me as the terentatek approahed. I grabbed my shoto and activated it, adopting an Ataru Jar'Kai stance, readying myself for the fight of my life. Well, that one, anyway.

The thunderous footfalls drew closer and closer, and I could feel sweat beginning to wetten my palms and forehead. When was this thing going to show up? Would it take an hour? A minute? How long?

It turns out that I wouldn't have to wait very long. I heard a growling noise that sounded a bit like a rancor's, and I saw the tusks and claws protruding from the horrible creature that now stood before me. At last, I was face-to-face with the terentatek. Standing at over three meters tall, it was definitely a lot bigger than I thought it would be. I remember gulping audibly at the sight of it.

It let out a loud, terrifying roar, challenging me, no doubt, and I launched right into battle.

Terentateks are tough beasties. There is no disputing that fact, and this particular beastie was no different when it came to its toughness. The terentatek was fast, too, its arms nearly slamming me into the ground on multiple occasions.

The terentatek forced me back from my initial attack with its tusks. It roared defiantly as I charged again with my second attack, spinning my lightsabers in a deadly Jar'Kai-fueled movement. I slashed at the terentatek's right arm, and it just barely got away in time. Roaring even louder, it charged again, slamming the poisonous claws of its left hand down into the ground where I had been standing a mere moment ago.

I knew that I had to get close to the terentatek. That was the only way to beat it. I had to get in close and strike a killing blow while it was distracted or dazed or something. The key was finding out how to do it. In the meantime, I continued to defend myself against the terentatek with all my strength, trying hard to find some weakness to exploit.

The beast, however, was not relenting, and the weakness was proving tough to find. The terentatek had me on the defensive, and I was starting to get tired. Maybe it sensed my fatigue somehow, or maybe it was just my imagination, but the terentatek's attacks suddenly grew much more aggressive as I realized the extent of my exhaustion. I did my best to defend against the beast's blows, but there seemed to be little I could do to stop it, or even slow it down.

The terentatek swung its arm dangerously around, and I swerved to narrowly avoid both the claws, which could probably have ripped me apart as well as poisoned me, and the big, meaty arms attached to it. I retaliated as best I could, spinning my lightsabers around in an effort to distract the terentatek, and it worked, by and large. I managed to neatly slice off one of the terentatek's hands.

The terentatek let out a horrible, piercing shriek as its hand flopped uselessly to the ground. I backed away, surveying my handiwork. There was no blood, as lightsabers cauterize wounds instantly, but there was a sort of charred stub at the terentatek's wrist where its hand used to be. The hand itself curled for a moment before the nerves in the hand died completely, and the hand went limp, never to move again.

"Fantastic," I muttered to myself.

The terentatek fixed me with a horrible glare as it regained awareness of its surroundings, probably brought on by my muttering. It stomped toward me slowly, then charged with all its might.

"Oh, fantastic," I said, slightly less enthusiastic about it this time.

It was all I could do to get out of the way in time. The terentatek crashed face-down onto the ground behind me, and I saw the weakness. I exploited it.

Jumping into the air, I pounced upon the terentatek before it even had a chance to get up, carefully avoiding the spikes on its back. Feeling me on its back must have made the terentatek learn that it was about to die. It stood up quickly, trying to shake me off. I dropped my shoto, needing both a grip to hold onto the beast with and a longer blade to stab it with.

The terentatek shook with all its might, trying to heave me off its back with such force that it almost succeeded. But a Gallifreyan grip is stronger than most. I held on tight to both my main lightsaber and the terentatek's back, until, at last, I had a shot to kill the beast once and for all.

I took it.

My green blade pierced the back of the terentatek's neck, going straight through its throat. The beast let out a shriek that died in an instant, its vocal chords shattered beyond repair. I spun around the terentatek's body so that my lightsaber made a sort of circular motion around the neck of the terentatek, severing its head completely. I bounded off the terentatek's back, landing on my feet, then collapsing to the ground from sheer exhaustion. I groaned, then looked up when I heard a deep rumble. The terentatek had fallen to the ground, handless, headless, and very much dead.

"Fantastic," I said with a smile, standing up and retrieving my lightsaber with the Force.

Now that the fight was over and I had survived, I had to think of a way to prove that I had indeed killed the beast. Shormum would certainly never believe that I killed the terentatek if I returned empty-handed. The body was much too heavy for me to carry all the way back to Chewbacca, much less carry it back up in the elevator. The severed hand would prove that I had survived, but not that I had succeeded in killing the beast. There was only one option, then. I had to take the head. Only the head of the terentatek would do.

I hefted up the big old thing with my mind, letting it morbidly float in the air as I walked back the way I had come, moving along the path that would undoubtedly lead me back to Chewbacca.

After a good long while of walking, I finally reached the campfire, the terentatek's head trailing behind me, its mouth hanging open. I found Chewbacca sitting by the fire, poking it with a large stick, waiting for my return. He looked up, saw me, and dropped his mouth. I looked behind me and saw the head trailing behind me. I grinned at Chewbacca widely.

"I see you've killed the beast," said Chewbacca, admiring the terentatek's head. "Most impressive."

"Thanks, Chewbacca," I said, glancing at the head once more. "The battle was thrilling. Fantastic, even."

"I don't doubt it," said Chewbacca with a smile. "Let's leave, shall we?"

"Agreed," I said. "I don't want to spend any more time down here than I have to."

We climbed into the elevator, which was, thankfully, big enough and strong enough to carry myself, Chewbacca, and the terentatek's head. The journey was slower than before, taking about twice as long due to the extra weight, but we eventually did resurface from the Shadowlands. A Wookiee scout was waiting for us.

"Chieftain Tarrful has ordered me to keep a lookout for your return," he said to explain his presence. He glanced behind me and Chewbacca at the huge head and stared at me with wide eyes.

"Did you do that, outsider?" he asked.

"Yeah, and you can tell that to Shormum," I said, puffing my chest out just slightly.

The scout nodded briskly, then led us back to Kachirho, where the Wookiees gazed apprehensively at the terentatek's head as it floated behind me. I smiled proudly, and Chewbacca and I entered with the head the chieftain's hut, while the scout stood guard at the door.

Tarrful, Shormum, and Tyvokka were standing or sitting, and they looked up expectantly at my arrival.

"Ah, the outsider returns," sneered Shormum. "Come to say that you-"

Shormum suddenly stopped. His eyes widened as he gazed at the terentatek's head.

"That I what?" I asked sarcastically. "That I definitely succeeded in killing the terentatek alone?"

"Doctor," said Tyvokka, his eyes just as wide, if not wider, than Shormum's. "You killed it alone?"

"That's right," I said with a smile. "All by my lonesome."

"Incredible," murmured Tarrful, who stood and addressed me. "Doctor, you have my everlasting respect. You have rid us of the beast's filth for good."

"Hear, hear!" called Shormum, who was finally looking at me with an air of admiration. "You have proven me wrong, outsider. I am humbled by your skill. Well done."

I bowed to Shormum, Tarrful, and Tyvokka, and I made the head bow with me. All four Wookiees-Tyvokka, Chewbacca, Tarrful, and Shormum-laughed.

I was welcomed into the village with open arms after that. Tyvokka and I stayed for a day more, during which time we told stories to the Wookiees. I even told them the story of my most recent regeneration, which was actually how the Wookiees of Kachirho came to learn about my ability to regenerate. Of course, it was eventually time to go home, and though we enjoyed our time with the Wookiees, Tyvokka and I had a duty to the galaxy to return to.

Before we left, Tarrful and Chewbacca approached me.

"You are welcome back to our village at anytime, Doctor," said Tarrful with a smile.

"Thank you, Chieftain," I said, bowing one last time to them. "I'll return someday. Until that time, gentlemen."

Tarrful and Chewbacca bowed to me as I entered the ship that had taken us to Kashyyyk. Tyvokka and I started up the engines, and we were soon on our way home.

So, what's the lesson in this story, you ask? The lesson is this: as Jedi, you are going to face odds that are stacked against you. Sometimes, like in the case of the terentatek, the odds are going to be so stacked against you that it seems impossible that you will ever make it out alive. Beings are going to doubt you, New Jedi Order. You've got to do your best to prove them wrong, as I did with Shormum. To do that, you must trust in the Force. The Force will guide you through your task and see to it that you complete it. With the Force on your side, the task suddenly doesn't seem all that scary. Sure, the terentatek was terrifying, but against the full power of the Light Side of the Force, it was nothing. So, New Jedi Order, the question for all of you: how has your trust in the Force helped you?

* * *

 **So, I was definitely inspired by KotOR when writing up this chapter. Hello, all, and welcome back to Star Wars (Starring the Doctor): Adventures of the Doctor! So, what did you think of this chapter? Was it good? Not good? Let me know what you think in a review!**

 **As we approach the final chapters of SW(SD) I feel that I should point out a bit of a change in the upload schedule. This Friday is still a-okay for the Tenth Doctor story, but I'll be posting the epilogue on Sunday instead of Saturday, for the simple fact that I want to talk about as many Doctor Who episodes with you as I can before this is over. So, yeah, that's going to be a thing that happens.**

 **Speaking of Doctor Who, this past episode was pretty good. The fish-guy kinda came out of nowhere, but it's whatever. Cool-looking enemy is forgiven of his randomness for the fact that he is cool-looking. I also liked the Beethoven thing, although I don't think I was paying enough attention to really understand what was going on, but meh. It was still interesting. The whole travel-back-in-your-own-time-stream thing really reminded me a lot of the Time Turner segment of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I don't really know how I feel about that, to be honest. I mean, I like the idea of the Time-Turners in Harry Potter, but they felt like a MacGuffin, a one-and-done deal, then were destroyed in Order of the Phoenix. But I'm getting really off-topic. Gotta focus. Overall, the episode was pretty good. I'd watch it again.**

 **Random thought: I've recently gotten back into Assassin's Creed. A couple of my friends at college pitched in and got me a copy of Assassin's Creed: Rogue for my birthday, and I thought it was really good. I had a fiction planned where it would be a free-for-all between Altair, Ezio, Connor, and Edward, but that never really amounted to anything. If I can, I'll come back to it, but who knows when that'll be.**

 **Next Friday: The Tenth Doctor and Jennara Oswin take on the Empire for the very first time!**

 **And that's about it for this author's note. Until the next chapter, my friends!**


	11. There's a First Time For Everything

Chapter Ten: There's a First Time for Everything

And now, New Jedi Order, we come to the incarnation with whom Jennara, Luke, Leia, Obi-Wan, and several others are most familiar. My previous incarnation was a bit of a maniac. I mean that in the most kind of ways. He was, by all standards, a very good Doctor, and a good man in general. He had this way of bonding with beings from all around that I do my best to emulate. He was a kind warrior, one who was not afraid to fight if absolutely necessary, but preferred diplomacy to violence. But, like me, he had a bit of a wacky side that he let out from time to time.

My tenth life also had to be the Doctor who lived through the tragedy of Order 66 and Operation: Knightfall. So, yeah, he was dealing with that at the time.

Of course, he was not alone in that respect. For the entirety of my exile during the nineteen years between Order 66 and when Obi-Wan and I were called upon to fight with the Rebel Alliance by the late Bail Organa, I was accompanied by the woman I can now safely call the woman I love, Jennara Oswin. At the time this story takes place, however, I didn't have those feelings for her. You may think I'm insulting Jennara by saying this, but she knows that my tenth life simply didn't feel that way about her. Besides, she was my Padawan at the time. I couldn't really think of her that way, anyway, could I?

Anyway, I'm getting really off-topic. This particular story details the first time that Jennara and I struck out against the Galactic Empire. Jennara, you remember this one well, I'm sure.

We had landed on Anaxes, which may not seem like a smart idea at first, but you'd be surprised at how hilariously dim-witted Imperial soldiers could be. Plus, neither of the two Sith Lords, Vader or Sidious, were on Anaxes at the time, so they couldn't have caught us. Really, the only reason we were on Anaxes was so that we could refuel the freighter we had been using to travel throughout the galaxy for about thirteen years. After that, it was back to scouring the Outer Rim. We had a few underworld contacts on Anaxes who would help us in refueling, but we obviously had to be very discreet. Anaxes was crawling with soldiers and supporters of the Empire, so we had to be very careful. One wrong move, and we could end up within the confines of an Imperial prison, or, more likely, we'd be shot on sight.

Of course, Jennara and I made that wrong move. Many, many times. This was the first.

The refueling would have to take all day, primarily because of the fact that we may or may not have been siphoning fuel from the Empire. If we had siphoned too much in too little a time, they would probably have been onto us, and that was not acceptable. Jennara and I had grown accustomed to knowing exactly how to operate in these kinds of situations. We simply walked around the capital city of Anaxes, Pols Anaxes, minding our own business. We had a philosophy, Jennara and I, when we were in exile during those years. Keep your nose out of trouble, and no trouble will come to you. We didn't want to attract the attention of the Empire, not until Senator Organa called us to action.

But the call to mess around with the Empire on the planet nicknamed Defender of the Core was just too tempting to resist, especially for me and Jennara.

Jennara and I had been dressed in our old mechanic uniforms, which we had purchased during our travels in the Outer Rim for disguises. We would eventually ditch those disguises for other disguises. Our Jedi robes were far too noticeable in heavily populated areas, so we used those uniforms to help conceal our identities. Of course, we often wore our robes on the ship and on thinly populated planets, like Ilum, which had no population to speak of, or planets with populations who had no love for the Empire, like Bothawui and Kashyyyk, though we always had to be extra careful of stormtroopers in our robes.

Anyway, our old mechanic uniforms were very helpful in disguising us from the Imperial soldiers. They didn't recognize us at all, which was good. We walked around Pols Anaxes, trying to mind our own business. It was hard to do that when Imperial soldiers were bullying citizens all over the streets.

"I see they bully only aliens," Jennara muttered very angrily.

"Good thing I look like a human, then," I muttered back. "Otherwise, we'd be in trouble."

"Yeah," she said, clenching her fists as we passed a Gran being pushed around by some stormtroopers.

We witnessed more injustice at the Empire's hands, all sorts of aliens being bullied into submission by their Imperial overlords. For three hours, we witnessed all sorts of crimes, even one where an Ithorian was shot in the street for "treason." At last, both my anger and Jennara's anger at the Imperials grew so great that we simply could not take it anymore.

"That's it," I said furiously. "I've had about enough of this."

"So have I," said Jennara eagerly. "What are we going to do?"

"I've got a plan," I said with a semi-wicked grin. "Follow my lead."

"Lead on, then, Doctor," said Jennara, grinning with me.

We sped along the streets of Pols Anaxes, avoiding the Keffi-drawn carriages and hover-limos gliding along the planet's surface, until we reached the Imperial Detention Center, a famed building used by the Empire for keeping prisoners locked away.

"We're going to hit it," I said confidently.

"Are you sure?" asked Jennara nervously. She hadn't been prepared for this.

"Oh yes," I said, a manic glint most likely lighting up my face. "It'll be alright. We won't get caught."

"If you say so," said Jennara. "I'll follow you."

"Alright," I said, taking a deep breath. "This way."

I led Jennara to the front door of the detention center and knocked. An Imperial officer greeted me with the coldest of expressions.

"What do you want?" the officer asked curtly.

"Hello," I said with a plastered-on smile. "My name is David Tennant. This is my companion, Jenna Coleman," I added, motioning to Jennara. "We're mechanics, and we've been hired to fix up your systems."

"I don't recall ever hiring mechanics," said the officer suspiciously.

I began to think that maybe I hadn't thought this whole thing through when I remembered that I was a Jedi. I could get in there in just about any fashion I wanted.

"You definitely hired a mechanic," I said, waving my hand slowly, taking swift control of his mind. "You remember us."

"I definitely hired a mechanic," repeated the officer dreamily. "I remember you."

"You will let us in," I said, waving my hand again.

"I will let you in," repeated the officer, opening the door fully to let us in.

"Thank you, my good man," I said jovially, clapping him on the back.

"Thank you," said Jennara, inclining her head just slightly to him as we passed him.

The officer just stood there, a stupid little grin on his face. Jennara and I fought to keep our laughter down, which was very easy considering that we were in a stronghold of the Empire. The facility itself was huge. It was a bit difficult to find our way around, but trust me when I say we eventually found a room with a lot of large computers in it.

"Okay," said Jennara, looking around. "Now what?"

"Remember those hacking techniques some of the old clones taught you?" I asked.

"Yes?" she said nervously. She later told me that she didn't really want to recall the betrayal of the clones, but she did, so I apologized, of course.

"Good," I said, oblivious for now to her discomfort. "We're going to hack our way into this system."

"Okay," said Jennara, some understanding dawning on her face. "Why?"

"Because the Empire thinks they can bully everyone they see," I said. "We need to show them that they can't."

"How?"

"Like so."

I typed in a few keys, hacking my way through the hilariously weak Imperial security grid.

"Quantity over quality," I said. "That's the unofficial mantra of the Empire," I added, typing in a command that released the prisoners from Cell Block A.

Jennara and I could hear shouts emanating from Cell Block A. The prisoners were rioting.

"Inciting a prison riot," said Jennara admiringly. "I like it."

"Then let's get to work," I said with a grin.

We worked quickly, making sure to release every single prisoner from each and every cell block, maniacal glee on our faces the whole time. It was exhilarating to do this, to mess with the Empire like this. Sure, it wouldn't last, but it was the thought that counted.

When we finished, we dashed out of the Imperial Detention Center before things could get really out of hand. Nobody saw us running. They were all too busy focusing on getting the prisoners subdued to worry about two Jedi posing as mechanics. Thank the Force they didn't because we would have been vastly underprepared had they spotted us. Our lightsabers were back on the freighter, and we wouldn't have lasted long against a wave of stormtroopers without them.

We slipped out of the Detention Center, making our way to the freighter as quickly as we could without attracting attention to ourselves. By the time we reached our contact, the refueling of our freighter was finished. I paid him, and we left quickly, making our way to Ilum before anyone could stop us.

* * *

Ilum was a bit of a haven for Jedi who survived Order 66. It was relatively unknown to citizens of the Empire, which was a boon for me and Jennara. We would hide out there for a few days, masking our presence in the Force, of course, then journey back to the civilized galaxy after an appropriate amount of time. The Empire would never find us and connect us to the Detention Center riot, so we were safe from that.

Only when we landed did we let our guard down. Jennara and I were breathing heavily, having just made it out of a very stressful situation indeed. We could have been gunned down at any moment, but we survived. Against all odds, we survived.

And do you know what we did, New Jedi Order? We laughed.

Jennara and I laughed our backsides off. It was an incredible feeling, to laugh after thirteen years of distinctly not laughing, at least not that hard. Jennara and I had had plenty of laughs before, but this laugh in particular was the most joyous, the most manic, the most real laugh we had ever experienced.

"That was amazing!" Jennara guffawed. "I can't believe we just did that!"

"We need to do that again!" I laughed.

Immediately, we stopped laughing and looked at each other, an expression of dawning emerging on our faces.

 _We need to do that again_ , I thought to her.

 _Yes, we do, Doctor. I agree_ , thought Jennara.

 _Why haven't we done this before?_

 _I have no idea, but we're a bit thick for not doing it._

 _I agree, Jennara._

 _What are we going to hit next?_

 _I don't know, but I'm sure we'll think of something before too long._

Jennara and I laughed again, and she eventually fell into a peaceful sleep with a smile on her face.

I was distinctly not peaceful a few hours later. Jennara was still sleeping, so she doesn't remember this, but I do, as though it were yesterday. I remember it very clearly.

New Jedi Order, you probably know by now, whether through the words of Jennara, myself, Obi-Wan, or Luke that my tenth life suffered from very realistic hallucinations toward the end of his life. I don't suffer from them now, of course, but there was a time when I did, and it started that day on Ilum. I think that the guilt my tenth life felt over the loss of so many Jedi, including four of my best friends, just got to him. I'll be honest and say that I thought about my old friends a lot back in those days. I still do on occasion, though I know that I have to look to the future instead of gazing on the past.

Anyway, the hallucination began, I suppose, when I heard a woman's voice call out my name in a faint whisper that just barely tickled my ears.

"Doctor," said the woman. "Doctor."

I stood up, sensing around the ship for any sign of life that wasn't Jennara. I found none, so I knew that it must have been outside the ship calling inward. I opened up the ramp and stepped out into the cold blizzard of Ilum.

For a few seconds, there was nothing. Then, all of a sudden, I could see the shape of a humanoid figure in the distance. My vision was only slightly perturbed by the snow billowing around my body, but I could definitely make out a humanoid shape. I thought maybe someone had found me, but the person was making no movement toward me.

"Hello?" I called. "Who's there?"

"It's me, Doctor," said the woman's voice. "How do you not remember me?"

And all at once, it came back to me. I was back on Saleucami, and I could see two speeders riding off in the distance, one wrecked one behind me. A woman was standing in front of me, closer now than she had been on Ilum. The Tholothian headdress and purple eyes with which she glared at me were unmistakable.

"Stass," I said breathlessly.

"And now the great Doctor remembers," Stass Allie said derisively. "You can help beings you don't even know, but you can't save me, or any of your friends?"

"I'm sorry," I gasped, collapsing on the cold ground.

 _Why is it cold?_ I thought to myself as Stass's hallucination glared at me angrily.

"You're weak, Doctor!" she shouted at me. "Weak!"

"I'm not weak!" I shouted back.

"THEN PROVE IT!" Stass screamed.

I yelled in agony, and the hallucination faded. I was back on Ilum, my hands and knees digging into the chilly snow instead of the flora of Saleucami. I was breathing heavily, shaking with terror as I ran through my encounter with the false Stass over and over again.

"Doctor?" called another woman's voice, a different woman, one much younger and still alive.

"Jennara!" I called back, searching for my Padawan in the blizzard.

"Doctor!" shouted Jennara, running up to me as soon as she and I found each other. She gave me a huge hug, which I returned.

"I heard someone scream," she spoke very rapidly, "and I woke up and saw you were gone, and I was really worried, and-"

"Jennara," I calmed her with a hand to the shoulder. "It's okay. I'm alright. Come on. Let's get inside. It's freezing out here."

"Right," said Jennara with a smile.

We journeyed back to the freighter, and I looked back to where Stass had appeared. There was nobody there, so I dismissed it as my imagination, even though it had seemed quite real. I walked back in the freighter, determined to keep this to myself. No need to burden Jennara with the visions of a guilty conscience, I thought to myself.

I eventually did tell Jennara what had been happening, sometime after the Battle of Yavin. I hadn't been honest with her regarding many things about me, including regeneration, so after she witnessed it firsthand, I decided to spill the beans about everything.

But that's not the lesson we can find here. What we do find here is in the title of this chapter itself. There's a first time for everything. As Jedi, you will get to experience things that most people never will. There will be a lot of firsts in your lives. Some, like the guerrilla raid on Anaxes and the laughter Jennara and I shared afterwards, will be good. Some, like my hallucination of Stass, will be less than pleasant. All of these things were firsts, regardless of whether it was good or bad. I'm not telling you to avoid the bad experiences. By all means, welcome them. Make mistakes. Be a person. You have to get out there and experience new things, new ideas, that you would never get to experience when you're locked away in a Temple or a Praxeum. And if you're troubled by the bad experiences, don't do what I did. Don't try to work through it yourselves because, as you know with me, that didn't really work out so well. Instead, talk about it with others. We're all family here. You can come to us about anything, and we will help you. But regardless of the quality of your new experiences, New Jedi Order, you must have them. Without them, how can we learn? So, New Jedi Order, what have you learned today?

* * *

 **So, a few hours late (I apologize for that), but this is it. The final chapter of Star Wars (Starring the Doctor). I'll save my goodbyes and such for the epilogue, but it's been quite a journey, my friends, and I'm glad I shared it with you.**

 **Anyway, so, I'll be posting the epilogue on Sunday, most likely in the afternoon, but maybe really early in the morning. I don't know. We'll see.**

 **The Doctor Who episode was pretty good. I'm interested to see where they take Maisie Williams's character. I mean, she's kind of immortal now, so I'm curious. I didn't really care much for the fact that it was a two-parter this time, but meh. Whatever. Makes for a more nuanced story, I guess.**

 **And now, the Star Wars trailer...Oh, my Lord...That trailer was the most incredible trailer I've ever seen in my entire life. It was just...so amazing...I cannot wait for December. It's gonna be incredible. I just know it. I can feel it in my bones. Mm! So excited!**

 **In any case, I'll post the epilogue on Sunday at some indeterminate point. If you guys have followed this story, you'll get it when it comes, I suppose. I'll see you then.**

 **And that about does it for this author's note. Until the epilogue, my friends!**


	12. Onwards and Upwards

Epilogue: Onwards and Upwards

Well, there you have it, New Jedi Order. An adventure from each of my lives. But I think it's time to stop living in the past, don't you? It's time to have some new adventures. And I personally plan to be a big part of at least a few of those adventures.

I think the moral of this whole writing-my-life-story-down process is to learn from my past to make your futures better. I'm pretty sure that's what Jennara wanted me to do, right? Or maybe she just wanted me to tell you guys some stories. Either way, there are valuable lessons to be gleaned from my stories. I hope that all of you can learn what you feel you need to learn in order to become better Jedi, whether it be the first lesson, the fourth, or even the sixth.

And so, Jennara, Luke, Obi-Wan, Leia, Kyle, Corran, Majei, Alistair, Sarah Jane, Vastra, Jenny, Thomas, Teller, Octavian, and, last but not least, young Danny, it's time for this story to come to a close. It's been great fun getting to write for all of you, and I hope that our adventures in the future will be as fun and educational as the ones in my past. With your strength and bravery, the Jedi Order will rise up again, like a Gallifreyan regenerating into someone completely new and different, though it remains the same at its core. We are servants of the Force, and our communication with its Light Side will usher in a new wave of peace for the galaxy. Let's hope it lasts for a very long time. And if it doesn't, you can bet that we will be there to stop the impending darkness, whoever or whatever it may be.

And you can bet, New Jedi Order, that I will be standing right with you all, probably shouting, "Geronimo!"

Cheers. It's been fun.

The Doctor

* * *

 **So, it's Monday...**

 **To be honest, guys, I didn't know how exhausted I would be on Sunday when I got back from a day trip to New York. I think, in my exhaustion, it just sort of slipped my mind. But, in any case, this is it. The end of the series. The end of Star Wars (Starring the Doctor). I think it's an appropriate ending. Deviates from canon quite a bit, but hey, that's alright with me. It's a fanfiction. I'm allowed to change things up a bit. I think that's a thing, right?**

 **Before I get into the goodbyes and such, I want to briefly discuss the Doctor Who episode that aired a few days ago. I thought it was good, although there were points where it was a bit contrived and random, like the part where the lion person just kind of disintegrated. I didn't really get that. But overall, it was a good two-parter. Really interesting take on immortality and the baggage that might come along with it. Ashildr's character really changed between episodes, going so far as to have her forget her own name, and I think that was a good move on the writer's part. Immortality comes with a price, which isn't something people often think about when they say they want to live forever. Forever is a long time. Anyway, back to the goodbyes and stuff.**

 **So, as you can probably tell, the ending portion is a signature from the Doctor. In my Google Drive document, I have it as a different font and a different size, as though the Doctor had actually signed it, but I think the effect is still there, even if FanFiction only has one font. It was meant as a send-off to the characters and as a send-off to you guys. You all made this possible. Without you all and your support, whether in reviews, PMs, following me or the story, or even just reading along, I probably never would have finished The Clone Wars, let alone Return of the Jedi and a couple of extra things. So, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Really, truly, you are all incredible. It's been a good run, but I think it's time to let this story end.**

 **That being said, I probably won't do a Star Wars (Starring the Doctor) version of Episode VII. I don't know the plot at all (I don't want to, either), and it might be really difficult for me to integrate the Doctor into the plot of "The Force Awakens." Still, I can't wait to see it! I know it's going to be awesome!**

 **Going forward: You're probably not going to see me for a while. I just have way too much stuff to do, what with college work and my own original series of books that I want to write and/or am writing. Of course, I won't be gone forever. I'll be back with a new story eventually. But it just won't be for a long while. In the meantime, continue reading and building your skills as writers. I don't normally do this, but since it's the last part of this story, here are some other fics that I found really, really good and would definitely recommend, in case you want to read some of them as well:**

 **"Man of the World" and "Light of the World": Assassin's Creed fics by Xarhaa. Just recently found these, and they're really excellent. Xarhaa has a third, called "Fate of the World," but I haven't quite gotten there yet. I'm still on "Light."**

 **The "White Snow" series: Star Wars fics by Vhetin1138. These are incredible. The level of detail to which these characters are fleshed out is nothing short of astounding. Might take a while to read them all, but they are definitely, DEFINITELY worth it.**

 **"The Edge of Light and Dark" and "Defining the Jedi": Star Wars KotOR fics by LMSharp. Essentially, they're novelizations of the two KotOR games, and they are some of the most amazing works of literature I've read, period. LMSharp is a marvelous writer, and you all should definitely check out her work. It's unequivocally incredible. She is awesome.**

 **And finally, "The Wanderer": A Shadow of the Colossus fic by nightlight6. Fun fact: This was the first fic I ever read on this site, and it really does hold a special place in my heart. I first read it a few years ago, way before I joined this site, and I reread it a month or two ago, and it is still really excellent.**

 **Those are some of my favorite fics on the site. Check them out at your leisure, I suppose. They are definitely worth the time to read them.**

 **Alright. Well, this is it. Again, thank you all so much for all your support. It means the world to me. You guys are awesome. May the Force be with you.**

 **I love it when the author's note is longer than the actual chapter, but I had a lot to say today.**

 **In any case, that just about does it for this author's note. It's been fun. Until we meet again, my friends!**

 **blade0627**


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